Love in Life
by countingeverysecondoftheday
Summary: Ally Dawson thought she couldn't be happier. But her friends and family worry about her lifelong lack of love. When the handsome Austin crashes (quite literally) into her life, will all this change? Or will she panic and convince herself she doesn't want a relationship? An Auslly story. INCOMPLETE AND ON HIATUS!
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone, thanks for taking the time to read this story! However, gonna be completely honest with you here: I have **never** seen a full episode of Austin & Ally. **I know**. Shoot me now. But, I just happened to stumble across and Austin  & Ally fanfic one day, and I just fell in love with the characters and the stories I read about them, plus I also had a basic knowledge of the show having seen repeated adverts for it on the TV. So I decided I might as well take a shot at writing one myself. Also, this is my first story on this website so I apologise if it's not very good!

Obviously, this is just how I've chosen to interpret the characters and they may not necessarily match up completely with those in the TV show (like I said I've never seen a whole episode). Any feedback, comments and suggestions would be entirely welcome, as well as any suggestions for how you'd like to see the story progress.

Also obviously, I do not own Austin & Ally in any way, shape or form.

So without further ado, here's the story! I hope you enjoy…

 **Chapter One**

 **Introductions**

Ally Dawson loved her life. She was young (aged 22), she had her own apartment in Miami where she was brought up, she had her best friend Trish who she could rely on if she needs help, and she loved her job, which was working at her Dad's music store, Sonic Boom. Well, she loved it most of the time… sometimes it was a little slow… But nevertheless, she still got to spend lots of time with her Dad, Lester, as family had always been very important to her. She couldn't be happier – or at least that's what she thought.

It was mid-January, so despite Miami's normally warm weather it was still generally quite cold out. It was a Monday evening, and Ally and Lester were gradually preparing to shut up the shop for the night. "So, Ally, you got any plans for tonight?" Lester asked his daughter, casually.

"No, nothing really. I need to stop by the grocery store on the way home, though." She replied. This was not uncommon for Ally. Unlike the typical 22-year-old woman, she didn't really see the appeal in going out partying and clubbing until dawn. She had always been more of a recluse, far preferring a sit on the sofa with a mug of hot chocolate enjoying a nice book. "Do you need anything, Dad?" She asked him.

"No, I'm okay thanks Al" He replied. "But are you sure you're not gonna go out? You know, loosen up, have fun, meet some new people?"

"Ugh, Dad, I know where this is going." Ally groaned, "Dad you know I'm happy as I am. I don't need to find a boyfriend." Because of her shy and reclusive nature, Ally generally struggled putting herself out there to make new friends. And even more so with boys. As a result, Ally had never gone on a single date and had never had a boyfriend.

"I know that, sweetie, but it hurts me to see you single still. You've always been so beautiful, why don't you just put yourself out there?" Lester had always been very respectful about his daughter's… issue… surrounding boyfriends, but it secretly worried him considering how lots of women her age were happily in love, or at least had been before in their lives.

"Okay, Dad, I really don't want to have this conversation with you again." Ally mumbled, wishing her Dad would stop trying to interfere with her love life and just let her be happily single.

"I'm sorry, Ally, I don't want to put any pressure on you," Said Lester gently, fearing he'd made his daughter mad, "but even Trish has a boyfriend. Doesn't it bother you when she can't hang out with you because she's on a date, so you're left all alone?"

"Dad, you really don't need to worry about me," Ally reassured him, strolling over to him. "I've got all the love I need for you." She kissed him on the cheek and then collected her coat and purse to leave. "I'm off now, I'll see you tomorrow morning, okay?"

"Alright, hon." Replied Lester. "Love you."

"Love you too Dad" She replied as she strolled out the door and through the mall, out into the chilly winter air. Despite everything her Dad said, Ally was perfectly happy being single. It just seemed to make life so much easier for her. Of course, she thought it would be nice to have a boyfriend, but it definitely wasn't one of her essential life goals. And so she continued on her own to go and do her shopping before returning to her apartment.

Having done her grocery shopping, Ally pulled out her phone to check the time. It was 8:30. _Hmm, I'll just grab a quick Starbucks,_ she thought to herself, _I could really use one to warm me up, God it's cold out here_.

Fortunately, the nearest Starbucks was just across the road from the grocery store, so she walked across the road and into the welcoming warmth of the coffee shop. It was relatively quiet in there, only a few people scattered around various tables in the café. "Good evening, how can I help you?" Asked the woman behind the counter, cheerfully.

"Uh hi, can I just get a medium black Americano to go, please?" Ally asked, fumbling around in her purse to get out her money.

Ally paid, waited for her drink to be made and collected it. She took a couple of steps backwards before turning to walk out the door, but when she turned – _**WHAM**_ – she walked straight into someone's chest. Her coffee and groceries went flying and she tumbled, landing in an undignified heap on the floor. "Oh my God, I am _so_ sorry!" A gentle voice called out to her as she sat there, trying to come to terms with what had just happened. "Here, let me help you up." The voice continued, and a hand appeared in Ally's face offering her assistance getting up.

Looking up, Ally found herself staring at what she could only recognise as the most beautifully handsome face she had ever seen in her life. She was looking at a man, around her age, with perfect blond hair and incredibly deep brown eyes which she found herself lost in. She also noticed that his dress sense was impeccable: white high-tops, dark blue slim jeans, a navy and white striped t-shirt, and a nice jacket.

She remained sat there for a few seconds, mesmerised by the beauty of this stranger, her cheeks getting redder and redder by the second. Once she realised how stupid she looked, Ally quickly looked away from his deep eyes and gently said "Oh, I'm so sorry" sheepishly as she took his hand and stood up, brushing herself down in a desperate attempt to retain some level of dignity. "I didn't see you there."

"Oh no, it was my fault!" Replied the blond quickly. "Oh man, look what I've done!" He muttered, looking around the coffee shop floor at the scattered vegetables falling out of the grocery bags and the spilt coffee everywhere. "I am _so, so_ sorry!" He repeated, expecting her to be seething.

"No, it's fine, no harm done." Ally replies calmly, still blushing.

"At least let me buy you another drink," He offers, already crouching down to try and pick up some of Ally's groceries and put them back in the bags.

"No, no, it's fine, honestly!" Ally reassures him, joining him on the floor to gather the food.

"No, really, I insist. It's the least I can do," He says, reaching out and touching her arm. At this Ally blushes even more, she can't believe that this amazingly handsome man is offering her a drink, let alone touching her. She makes the mistake of looking into his eyes, and immediately gets lost in them. After a few seconds of her just staring at him, he begins to worry he's making her uncomfortable and swiftly removes his hand. "Excuse me, miss? Are you okay?"

"Hmmm, what, no I'm fine!" Ally stutters, suddenly breaking out of her trance and feeling like an absolute idiot. "Are you sure you want to buy me another one? I can get one myself..." She began.

"No, no, of course! It's the least I can do!" The man responds, smiling at her with his perfect white teeth. "What was it?"

"Oh, it was just a small black Americano. Thanks." She replies gently, smiling meekly back at him. She told him it was a small so he wouldn't have to buy her a medium, she felt kind of guilty even accepting a small from him. However, he could tell from the size of the cup rolling around on the floor that it was a medium, so he turned to the woman at the counter.

"Hi, can I please get a medium black Americano and a large Cappuccino to go?" He asks confidently, digging around in his pocket for his wallet.

"Of course," the woman on the counter replies. "What's the name?"

"Oh, the Cappuccino's for me, Austin, and the Americano's for…" He pauses, turning to Ally for her name.

"Ally" She says softly, with a small smile on her face.

"Ally." Austin finishes, turning back to the woman.

He paid for their drinks and they waited until they were ready, in a comfortable silence. They collected them from the counter and walked out of the shop, side by side. "Which way are you going?" Austin asked Ally as they walked out the door.

"Oh, I'm just heading back to my apartment in Aqua Plaza, down that way." She said, pointing down the street, expecting him to say he needed to go the opposite way.

"Woah, what a coincidence!" Austin said, shocked. "I live in that building to!" He said excitedly. At the look of shock on Ally's face, he explains "But I only moved in about a week ago. Which apartment are you in?" He asks as they start to make their way down the street together. "If you don't mind telling me, that is," Austin added quickly. "I know some people don't really like sharing that information with people they just met. I'm in 702."

"No, it's fine," replied Ally calmly. "it's always nice to meet the neighbours. I'm in 710."

"Oh we're on the same floor!" Austin exclaims. "How come I've never seen you then? I thought I'd met everyone on our floor."

"I guess I'm just rather quiet, really." Ally said quietly, embarrassed at her own lack of any socialisation. She only really left her apartment to go to work.

It wasn't a very long walk, and they made pleasant small talk most of the way, chatting about the people on their floor, how nice the views were, all the normal things that you would. They were about halfway back, and had just fallen into a pleasant silence, when a fairly large gust of icy cold wind arrived, catching both of them off guard. Despite her coat, Ally was starting to get rather cold, as the coat itself was rather thin. It wasn't long before she started noticeably shivering. "Here, do you want my jacket?" Austin offered kindly, unzipping it and holding it out to her.

"Oh, no thanks, I don't want you catching a cold or anything." Ally replied, even though she did desperately want the extra warmth it offered.

"No, don't worry about me," Austin reassured her, "I've just moved from Seattle, up north, so I'm used to the cold." He added jokingly. He was in fact completely lying; he'd only moved from Orlando and was bitterly cold too. He just wanted to give a good impression to Ally.

"Okay, if you're sure. Thanks." Ally replied, not entirely convinced but also glad to be slightly warmer. She held her hand out for it, but Austin wasn't there anymore, having moved behind her to put it over her shoulders. As he did so, his hands gently grazed against her shoulders. Even this tiny bit of contact made Ally blush tremendously, but she just passed it off as being because she was cold. The jacket did the trick, though, because she was now much warmer.

They continued the rest of their walk in comfortable silence, with just the occasional few sentences being passed between them about nothing in particular. Ally was happy just to be in the company of a man so handsome and kind, and Austin was equally happy to be accompanying a woman as beautiful and sweet as Ally. Though, obviously, they wouldn't outright say that to each other. They'd only just met, after all.

When they walked through the front door of the apartment building they both sighed in relief at the rush of warm air that greeted them, glad to be out of the cold and into the comforting warmth of the lobby. They ambled into a lift and Austin hit the button for the lift to take them to floor 7. They stood opposite each other in the lift in warm silence, each of them glancing at the other when they thought they weren't looking. Whenever their eyes met accidentally, Ally would blush like crazy and look away, and Austin would just smile gently and glance away.

When the elevator dinged and the doors opened, they stepped out into the carpeted central area of the floor, enjoying each other's company for a few more seconds. Just as the silence was on the verge of becoming awkward, Austin cleared his throat and looked at her. "Well, thank you for letting me walk with you." He said kindly, smiling softly at her.

"Yes, o-of course," Ally stuttered, blushing again. "and thank you for the coffee. And for walking with me." She replied nervously.

"Oh yeah, I'm sorry again for walking into you." Austin said, looking down at his feet, embarrassed.

"No, that's fine; I wasn't looking where I was going." Ally was quick to combat him. Maybe a little too quick, and she inwardly face palmed.

"Here, let me walk with you to your door." Austin offered gentlemanly. Ally blushed again before accepting and they began walking down the corridor side by side. They stopped outside Ally's door and she turned to face him.

"Well, thanks again." She stammered nervously, trying desperately hard to appear normal even though inside she wanted to just run inside and slam the door before she could say anything to embarrass herself. She fished around in her purse for her keys and picked them out.

"No problem at all." Austin said sincerely. He considered going for a peck on the cheek but then quickly decided it was too soon and he didn't want to creep her out or anything.

She turned her key in the lock and opened the door. Just as she stepped in she heard Austin's voice again. "Oh, Ally?" He called out, "Could I have my jacket back please?" He asked quietly, a small smile on his face.

"Oh, yes! Sorry, I forgot." Ally stammered again, blushing as she shrugged off the jacket and handed it to him. "Thanks."

"No problem, miss…" He then paused, waiting for her last name.

"Oh, Dawson." Ally replied sweetly.

"Well, goodnight Miss Dawson." Austin said gently, smiling gently at her. "I guess I'll see you around."

"Yeah. Goodnight Austin." Ally replied sweetly, before closing the door with a small wave. She then sank against the door onto the floor, not believing what had just happened. Outside, Austin smiled to himself for a second outside her door before walking off down the hallway to his own apartment.

 _Wow._ Ally though to herself. _Wow._ Austin thought to himself. Ally started doubting herself. _Should I have invited him inside?_ She wondered, before deciding she'd made the right decision. _No, I don't want to come across as desperate or anything. Besides, there's no way someone like him could ever have a crush on a freak like me._ She wasn't even sure if she wanted to try and make anything happen with Austin – as she said to her Dad, she was perfectly happy single.

But no matter how much she tried to deny herself, Ally knew deep down that she was hoping to see Austin again soon. She just couldn't get those eyes out of her head.

Checking her phone she realised it was now 9:10, and Ally wasn't quite ready to go to bed yet. She was just about to go and get her book when her phone rang. It was Trish.

A: **Hey Trish, what's up?**

T: _Hey Ally, just calling to say sorry again I couldn't come see you at Sonic Boom today._

A: **Oh no worries, I understand.**

T: _It's just I know I normally do and I didn't feel good about bailing on you, I didn't want you to feel lonely having to walk home on your own._

Trish didn't live in the same building as Ally, but she lived a few blocks past it so she could normally walk Ally home anyway.

A: **It's okay, I wasn't on my own in the end.**

T: _Oh, is your Dad staying at yours?_

Ally chuckled to herself.

A: **No, no, I just ran into someone at Starbucks. Literally.**

T: _Oh, who? Do I know them?_

A: **No, I don't think so. I didn't know them until this happened.**

At this point Trish could tell that Ally had done something stupid.

T: _What did you do?_ She asked teasingly.

A: **Umm… I may have walked into him by accident and dropped everything?**

T: _Him!?_

A: **Oops.**

Although Trish was her best friend, Ally still didn't ever really talk to her about boys. Trish tended to be a bit like Lester when it came to trying to persuade Ally to find a boyfriend asap. Any mention of the word 'boy' or 'him' leaving Ally's mouth and Trish was instantly trying to pry details about this guy, with the aim of persuading her to try and get together with him.

T: _Ally, you ran into a guy!? Was he hot? Did he buy you a drink? Do you like him?_

A: **Trish! For God's sake!**

T: _Sorry, Al, but seriously, was he hot?_

A: **Umm… you could say that…**

T: _Did he buy you another drink?_

A: **Yeah. I didn't want him to but he insisted.**

T: _Did he walk you home?_

A: **Yeah, turns out he lives in the same building as me… on the same floor.** She immediately wished she hadn't said this.

T: _You're neighbours with a hot guy who bought you a drink? JACKPOT!_

A: **Trish, shut up! Nothing's gonna happen from it anyway.**

T: _Al, don't you see what an opportunity you have here? Go for it!_

A: **Oh just be quiet Trish, there's no way he could ever like me.** She was starting to get annoyed at this point, but Trish didn't pick up on it.

T: _Oh my God, Ally's going to finally get a boyfriend!_

A: **Trish, stop, what's wrong with you? I'm not going to go out with him!**

And with that she abruptly hung up on Trish. Ally was normally a very sensible, calm woman, but she had a short temper when it came to being teased or interrogated, especially about boys. She instantly regretted hanging up on Trish, after all she did just want the best for her. But she couldn't be bothered with calling her back and knew her feisty friend wouldn't be too upset about it. She'd probably see her the next day anyway.

Still slightly annoyed about her small argument with Trish, and not really in the mood to eat because of the Starbucks, Ally decided simply to get ready for bed and just relax and read her book. Which she did, before falling asleep at 10:30, happily dreaming away, her conversation with Austin playing in her head over and over. _Wow, I'm such a loser sometimes_ she thought to herself, giggling.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey everyone, thanks for taking the time to read this story! However, gonna be completely honest with you here: I have **never** seen a full episode of Austin & Ally. **I know**. Shoot me now. But, I just happened to stumble across and Austin  & Ally fanfic one day, and I just fell in love with the characters and the stories I read about them, plus I also had a basic knowledge of the show having seen repeated adverts for it on the TV. So I decided I might as well take a shot at writing one myself. Also, this is my first story on this website so I apologise if it's not very good!

Obviously, this is just how I've chosen to interpret the characters and they may not necessarily match up completely with those in the TV show (like I said I've never seen a whole episode).

This is a work in progress, so any feedback, comments and suggestions would be entirely welcome, as well as any suggestions for how you'd like to see the story progress. I will add chapters as often as I can, hopefully one every couple of days.

Also obviously, I do not own Austin & Ally in any way, shape or form.

So without further ado, here's the story! I hope you enjoy…

 **Chapter Two**

 **Offers and Excuses**

Ally woke up the next morning feeling… weird. There was no other way she could think to describe it. Not necessarily a completely negative form of weird, but weird nonetheless. She was happy to have met Austin and she really hoped to see more of him, but at the same time she felt kind of bad when she thought about him because she remember her mini argument with Trish. ' _If this is what just meeting him does to me and Trish, what would happen if we actually did go out?'_ She thought to herself, even though she was equally convinced that a guy like him would never, ever go for a girl like her.

Trying to put Austin out of her mind, Ally looked at her clock and saw that it was 8:00. It was Tuesday, so she had to be at Sonic Boom for around 9:00. It was around a 30 minute walk so she had around half an hour to get ready. So, she got up and went to have breakfast. For Ally, who wasn't really a fan of cereal, this tended to consist of a small bowl of fruit salad and, if she was feeling extra hungry, a slice of toast or two. But today was not one of those mornings, so she just had the salad and a small glass of apple juice.

When she was done she threw it all in the dishwasher and went to have a shower. Shower done she brushed her teeth and took a quick glance at the time. 9:20. She was on schedule so far!

Next she had to decide what to wear. She would normally just throw on the first matching outfit she found, but today she had something in the back of her mind… Austin. In the very small chance that she did meet him during the day, she wanted to make sure she looked good. When she realised she was doing this she immediately thought to snap herself out of it and that this was crazy, she'd only met him once… but she decided to make an extra effort anyway. So, she decided on a bright red long-sleeve top with a black belt, a red mini-skirt to match the top and black leggings. She also put on a little bit more of her make-up than she normally did, but she made sure it still looked natural(ish). Her final decision to make was shoes. She would normally wear black flats, which would still go with her outfit and be more comfortable, but the thought of Austin once again made her go for some red heels. Not killer heels or anything like that, she wasn't stupid, but just some mini-heels. Quick spray of perfume, grabbing her phone, keys and purse and she was out the door. She was then immediately back in the door having forgotten her coat. She quickly grabbed it from the sofa and she was back out the door.

As she was locking the door she casually checked the time. 9:45. Door locked, she tur… wait, **what!?** 9:45!? Uh-oh, this wasn't good, Lester would be furious. Ally ran down the corridor to the lift and frantically pressed the button for it. After standing there waiting for about a minute, she looked up from her phone, wondering why the lift was taking so long. Only then did she see the "Lift Out Of Order" sign. Great, stairs it is then.

She quickly skipped over to the stairwell and went down them as fast as she could. Now she was _really_ wishing she'd gone for the flats instead of the heels. Clip-clopping her way down the stairs, she was focusing so hard on not tripping over and being quick that she didn't even notice when she was at the bottom floor, running round expecting another set of stairs only to run into a brick wall instead. This was turning out to be a great day so far.

Mildly dazed, Ally quickly shook herself out of it and ran out of the stairwell through the lobby and out into the street. She had only made it a few steps down the street when she heard a car honk it's horn behind her. At first she didn't think it was for her so she determinedly pressed on, increasing her pace slightly. Then she heard Trish's voice call her name and she turned around to see her best friend in her car. "Hop in," called out Trish, "I'll give you a lift to Sonic Boom."

Ally wasn't about to turn that offer down. She clambered into the passenger seat, saying "Thanks Trish, you're a lifesaver."

"No problem," Trish replied happily, "what're friends for?" There was a small pause whilst Ally buckled up her seatbelt and then Trish drove off. After about ten seconds of silence Trish broke it, saying "Listen, Al, I'm sorry about last night. I know you don't like to talk about boys and I shouldn't have pushed you about it." She said sheepishly. Trish wasn't usually one for heartfelt apologies.

"No, it's okay." Replied Ally, "I wasn't really that upset about it."

"But come on Ally, you said yourself he's hot! What does he look like?" She asked, trying not to sound pushy.

"Well…" Ally began, not really knowing how to describe him. "He's blond for one thing. Blond, the most _beautiful_ shade too. And his eyes, oh my God those deep, brown eyes…" Ally found herself blabbering about Austin, saying things she would never normally say out loud. Only then did she realise what she was saying, and as soon as she did she quickly clasped her hands over her mouth. "Oops, did I just do what I think I did?" She asked, embarrassed.

"Oh girl, you've got it bad for this guy!" Trish remarked, shocked at hearing Ally actually talking about a guy this way. "What's his name?"

"Austin." Ally babbled, pretty much in her own little world just thinking about him. Trish, realising this, snapped her fingers loudly in front of Ally's face.

"Hello, Earth to Ally!" She said loudly at her, "Look at you! You can barely even talk properly just thinking about this guy! You really like him don't you?"

Ally was immediately in denial mode. "Look Trish, I've met him once. Once. Un. Eins. Uno. Nothing's going to happen. Besides, I don't even know if I really want anything to."

"What!?" Ally heard Trish screech next to her.

"I mean look at us last night. We had our first argument in ages because of him. You know I'll always put my friends before romance. No, I need to try not to get together with him. I promise you now, Trish, that I will try my best not to end up in a relationship with Austin."

"Oka-ay" Said Trish teasingly. It was clear Trish didn't believe Ally, but she wasn't annoyed. She wanted something to happen, perhaps more than Ally! She just wanted her to feel what it's like to be in love. Realising Ally didn't want to discuss Austin anymore, Trish decided to change the subject and they talked happily about this and that for the remainder of the journey.

It was not a long drive to the mall, and they soon arrived. Trish dropped Ally off outside, and as she watched her best friend scurry in the direction of Sonic Boom, she just longed for her to be happy. Because although she may appear it on the outside, Trish could tell that on the inside Ally was lonely.

Ally ran as quickly as her heels would allow towards the shop, checking her phone as she went. It was 9:05, so she wasn't too late, but even 5 minutes made her feel awful as before then she had **never** been late to work before. ' _Stupid Austin, it's all his fault'_ she thought to herself. ' _Why does he have to be so damn good looking?'_

"Morning, Dad, sorry I'm a little late" She called out as she walked through the doors of the shop, removing her coat and threw her stuff down behind the counter.

"Morning, sweetie." Lester called back to her from the back room. "Don't worry about it, we haven't had any customers yet." He emerged onto the shop floor, grinning at his daughter as he gave her a hug. "How was your evening?"

"Err… fine..." Said Ally quietly, not quite sure how to respond. At that moment she wanted to just tell him all her thoughts and feelings about Austin and how sweet he was, but she then reminded herself that a) nothing was ever going to happen from it and b) she didn't really want to tell her Dad everything as he'd just pester her for ages trying to get every single detail about him.

Ally walked over to the guitar section, looking for something when Lester noticed her shoes. "Whoa, Als, what's with the heels?" He asked, curious.

"Oh, I'm sorry Dad, I won't wear them ag…" He cut her off at this point.

"No, no, it's not a problem, I really don't mind. I've just never seen you wear them before." He explained.

"Oh, okay." Ally said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"They're nice." Lester continued. "Trying to impress someone?" He said jokingly, nudging her with his elbow and wiggling his eyebrows.

"No." Ally replied immediately. That was definitely too quick a response and they both knew it. However, noticing it was making his daughter a little uncomfortable, Lester decided not to pursue the subject and they both set about their work.

It was about two hours into the day and it had been fairly busy so far. Ally was stood behind the counter, tidying things up when she heard the door open. Looking up to see who it was, she saw two girls who lived on her floor walk in. She wouldn't necessarily say they were friends, but they were perfectly nice and she didn't mind talking to them. "Oh hey guys." She greeted cheerfully, smiling at them.

"Hey Ally, how're you doing?" Replied Piper, one of the two girls who had just walked in. She was around Ally's age, blonde with beautifully tanned skin and brown eyes. Ally found herself comparing Piper's brown eyes to those of Austin and almost starts daydreaming about him, before she realises what she's doing and snaps herself out of it.

The other of the girls was Cassidy. She was also around the age of Ally and Piper, a slightly darker shade of blonde than Piper and not quite as tanned, but still lovely. "Hey Ally, I didn't know you worked here."

"Well, it seems I do." Replied Ally, calmly. "What're you two doing here?"

"Well we were just at the mall, shopping, and thought we might as well have a look around. See what's what." Explained Piper.

"Oh, cool. Well, browse away." Said Ally with a smile.

Ally went back to clearing up, and after about two minutes of them walking around talking amongst themselves quietly, she heard Piper say: "Oh my God, have you seen the new guy? He moved in about a week ago I think."

"Ooh, the blonde one?" Cassidy replied eagerly.

"Yes, oh my God he is _so_ hot!"

"Oh I know, his eyes are so dreamy!"

"I wonder if he's single…"

"Probably not, he's too attractive to be single." Ally heard Cassidy say. She hadn't even though about this when she was thinking about him. She felt kind of idiotic, and it just made her even surer that there was no way she could ever be with him.

"Yeah, true. But I can still dream." Said Piper, almost swooning. "I haven't really had a chance to talk to him yet. I might knock on his door later." For some reason, Ally heard herself think _'Don't you dare, bitch.'_ She then immediately realised what she'd though and was confused. _'Oh my God, why did I even think that?'_ She thought to herself.

Her self-conflict was interrupted when Cassidy turned to her and said "Have you seen him, Ally?"

"What?" Ally replied, not fully hearing what she'd said.

"The _totally_ hot blond, uh what's his name…" Piper said, thinking. "…umm, is it Alan? No, Adrian? No, Alex? I don't even know."

"Oh, uhh… umm…" stuttered Ally, not knowing what to say and feeling herself start to blush slightly. "No, I haven't, there's a new guy?" She tried to sound shocked, but felt like she'd failed miserably. Fortunately, the other girls didn't catch on.

"Oh, well he is _gorgeous_ ," said Cassidy "I can't wait to meet him. You never know what might happen…" she said, winking at Piper and smiling jokingly. Ally felt herself getting jealous, but was in denial with herself. _'I don't like Austin'_ she kept telling herself but it never seemed to work.

"Well good luck with him then." Said Ally, forcing herself to say it in a joking, funny way even though she knew deep down that she was jealous.

"Thanks, see you later Ally." Cassidy replied sweetly before she and Piper walked out of the shop. The second they were out the door, Ally put her elbows on the counter and cupped her face in her hands, very confused as to what had just happened. Why was she so jealous of Piper and Cassidy wanting to talk to Austin? They were really nice girls and she liked them. She also thought they were way prettier than her and could understand why Austin would go for someone like them.

She needed to get it into her head that she and Austin were never going to happen and that she didn't like him anyway, and she started gently hitting her head onto her elbows in an attempt to shake all thoughts of him from her brain.

She had been in this confused state for about 5 minutes when Trish walked through the door, having come to visit Ally on her lunch break. "Hey, Al…" she stopped when she saw Ally hunched over the counter. "You okay, Ally?" She asked, prodding her gently on the shoulder.

Having been in her own small world, the prod suddenly snapped Ally out of it and she jumped when she realised her best friend had stood there watching her beat her head into her elbows. "Ahh, I'm fine." She loudly said, confused.

"Okay, what was that about?" Asked Trish, telling something was up with Ally.

"Nothing…" Ally said meekly, moving out from behind the counter to go and look at the displays, trying to appear normal. "I'm fine."

Trish was not convinced. "Als, that's B.S. and you know it and you know I know it."

"No, honestly it's nothing." Ally replied, desperate to move on and avoid any mention of Austin.

Still knowing something was up, Trish decided to drop the subject as it was clear she wasn't going to get Ally to spill anything. "So, how's your day been so far? Where's your Dad?"

"Oh, he went on his break about 20 minutes ago. He'll be back fairly soon."

The two chatted quietly together for about 40 minutes, unless ally was helping a customer, of course, before Trish announced she had to go. She gave Ally a hug and walked out the door at the same time as Lester walked back in. "Hey, honey." He said cheerfully. "How's it been whilst I was gone?"

"Pretty good, actually," Ally replied sweetly, "not a bad day so far."

"Great. Would you like to go on a break for a while?" He asked kindly.

"Oh, no, Dad, I'm fine. I'm quite happy working."

"Really, Ally? You never go on breaks, your always in here. Go on, I insist, have an hour's break." He said, smiling at her gently.

"Well, okay then…" Ally said. "Thanks Dad." She gave him a quick hug before leaving the shop, not actually entirely sure how she would spend an hour. She decided first to go for a little walk around the mall just to stretch her legs and pass the time a bit.

She surprised herself when she actually started to relax and enjoy her stroll. However, she turned a corner and who should she see? Austin. Typical. For some reason desperate for him not to see her, she instantly back-tracked and turned around to hurry off in the other direction. She then got the shock of her life when she saw that she was about 1cm in front of a concrete wall and let out a quiet, mini screech as she swerved to dodge it.

In an attempt to hide from Austin, she ran into the first shop she saw without bothering to check what it was. Fortunately, it was simply a small café, but she felt weird just standing there if she wasn't going to get anything, so she just grabbed and bought a bottle of water. She turned to walk out the door, feeling confident that enough time had passed for Austin to be gone. She then instantly froze when she saw him casually strolling past the door of the café she was hiding in. _'Please don't look at me, please don't look at me, please don't look at me…'_ She kept saying to herself. Luckily he didn't see her, but those few seconds of him walking past felt like the longest of her life. It was at this moment that she realised how much she liked him – no boy had ever had this effect on her.

When he was gone she walked briskly out of the café and in the opposite direction to him. She just wanted to avoid him so she couldn't embarrass herself in front of him. _'Wow. I'm such a dork.'_ She laughed to herself as she walked off. She quite enjoyed the rest of her time walking around the mall and promptly returned to Sonic Boom when the hour was up.

"Hey Dad, I'm back." She called out as she walked through the doors.

"Hi, did you enjoy your break?" Lester called back cheerfully.

"Uh, yeah thanks, it was quite nice really." Ally replied politely, before getting back to work and helping her Dad with whatever he needed.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, with a generally steady flow of customers throughout the afternoon and early evening. It started to get quieter at around 8 o'clock, and so at 8:30 Lester told Ally that he could manage the rest of the night and shut up shop himself and that she could go home.

Ally kissed her Dad on the cheek, gathered her stuff and left the mall. She decided not to go to Starbucks this time, not wanting to repeat her embarrassing fall of the night before or run into Austin.

On her walk home Ally spent a lot of time thinking. She particularly thought back to her near miss with Austin earlier that day, and in hindsight she felt like a complete fool for running away from him so stupidly. ' _I probably looked like an idiot.'_ She thought to herself, ' _Why was I so desperate not to speak to him?'_ This one idea stuck in her mind for most of the walk back to Aqua Plaza, until she was a block away and saw Piper walking towards her, head down. "Hey, Piper!" She called out cheerfully, waving to her.

"Oh hi again Ally, on your way home?" Piper replied with a smile.

"Yeah, where are you off to?"

"I'm just heading out to a bar for the evening, fancied a bit of a dance, you know?" Ally nodded as if she did, but actually she had no clue having never set foot in a bar in her life. "Hey, do you wanna come with?" She asked politely. "We haven't really had a chance to talk much yet."

"Sorry Piper, I'd love to but I have to be up early for work." Replied Ally politely. This was also a lie, she had absolutely no desire to go drinking at all.

"Oh okay, no problem." Said Piper, not sounded particularly disappointed nor happy. "Maybe next time?"

"Yeah sure, maybe." Ally then suddenly had a flashback to their earlier conversation. "So, did you get a chance to speak to that new boy?" She asked, acting as if she had no clue about him.

"Oh my God yes, he is soooo cute!" Piper giggled enthusiastically. "His name's Austin. I knocked on his door and introduced myself and he invited me in for coffee. He seems really nice, actually."

"Oh, that's nice." Said Ally, feeling the tiniest bit jealous.

"Yeah, he is so dreamy, I just kept getting lost in his eyes, they're so gorgeous! He's so hot, I'd definitely go out with him." Ally could tell at this point Piper really liked Austin. Now she was definitely feeling jealous, much to her own annoyance. "I hope I wasn't gawking at him like an idiot!" Piper giggled. ' _I hope you were,'_ Ally thought to herself and instantly hating herself for even thinking it.

"No, I'm sure you were fine." Ally reassured her, smiling. "Well, I better be getting inside."

"Yeah, and I better get to the bar before they run out of booze!" Said Piper, giggling again. "I'll see you around, Al."

"Yeah, night." Replied Ally sweetly with a smile, before they went their separate ways.

Ally walked into Aqua Plaza and thumbed the lift to her floor, getting her keys out of her bag. When the doors opened at her floor, she had a mini heart attack when she saw Austin there waiting to get into the lift. "Austin!" She cried, involuntarily throwing her keys from the shock. _'Great. Smooth one Ally.'_ She thought to herself, _'now you definitely look like an idiot.'_

"Hi Ally, how are you doing?" Austin asked her as she walked out of the lift, also backing away from it as the doors closed, in order to speak with her. He bent down and picked up her keys. "You might need these." He said warmly, smiling as he held them out to her.

"Thanks," Ally said, blushing as she took them from him. "And I'm fine, thanks, what have you been up to today?" She continued, knowing that he'd been at the mall.

"Just had a bit of a break day really. I went to the mall for a few hours this morning. It's so nice in there, I want to go into every single shop there at some point." He explained. Ally's heart stopped briefly at the thought of him walking into Sonic Boom and seeing her there. "You look nice today, by the way." He said quite quietly. Did she see him blushing slightly as he said that? Well, she certainly blushed!

"Oh, thanks, I just kind of threw myself together this morning." She said sheepishly, lying again as she remembered how long she spent choosing what to wear.

"Well, well thrown." He complimented.

"Thanks" Ally replied, blushing again. "Where are you off to tonight?"

"I just need to pop out and get a few groceries." He said calmly. "Want to come with me? It'd be nice to have some company." When he said this Ally could be sure she saw a slight glint in his eye.

"Oh, thanks for the offer," Ally replied nervously, "but I think I just need to go and relax in my apartment for a while." As she spoke she saw the glint go from his eye and he looked kind of disappointed. Ally started to feel quite bad for turning him down.

"Oh, sure, that's okay." Austin said, smiling, although he definitely looked a little disappointed. "I don't need much anyway. I guess I'll see you soon?" He asked, a tiny shred of hope sounding in his voice.

"Yeah, soon." Ally replied, smiling. "Goodnight Austin."

"Night Ally."

And with that she walked off down the corridor. As she got to her door, she casually looked in the direction of the lifts and saw Austin still stood there, smiling gently at her, only pressing the button to call the lift once she unlocked the door. He gave her a sweet little wave as he stepped into the lift.

Ally blushed again, waved back, and walked through the door. Like the night before, she sank against the door, feeling happy after their conversation but also wishing she'd said yes to his offer. At this point she knew she'd definitely fallen for him.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey everyone thanks for taking the time to read this story! This is a work in progress, so any feedback, comments and suggestions would be entirely welcome, as well as any suggestions for how you'd like to see the story progress. I will add chapters as often as I can, hopefully one at least every couple of days. Also, I know the story seems a bit snow at the minute, but I hope you choose to stick with it!

This chapter is also a bit shorter than normal. Sorry! The next one should be normal length, though.

Obviously, I do not own Austin & Ally in any way, shape or form.

So without further ado, here's the story! I hope you enjoy…

 **Chapter 3  
** **Coffee and Caring**

The last few days had been pretty normal for Ally. She had been working her regular shift at Sonic Boom quite happily, with visits from Trish every now and then, before returning to her apartment and having the evening off, relaxing and reading. This was exactly what Ally was currently doing, on Friday night.

Despite being perfectly happy with her current schedule, there was something bugging Ally slightly. She hadn't seen Austin at all since Tuesday evening when she met him coming out the elevator. She hadn't been trying to avoid him at all, but she started to wonder if he was avoiding her… had she done something wrong? Yes, she remembered she turned him down when he asked her to go to the grocery store with him, but surely that wasn't really a big deal, right?

She was just considering this when her phone rang. It was Trish.

A: _Hey Trish what's up?_

T: **Hey Al.** Ally could tell immediately that something was wrong with Trish. She definitely sounded down.

A: _Trish what's going on?_

T: **My Mom just called, telling me my Grandad died this morning.**

A: _Oh my God, Trish! I'm so sorry!_

T: **Thanks Al. It was just kinda unexpected, you know?**

A: _Yeah of course. How's your Mom about it?_

T: **I think she's taking it pretty hard. She wasn't crying when she called me, but I could hear it in her voice that she had been.**

A: _Aww Trish, do you want to come over? I'm not doing anything tonight and I can help you take your mind of it._

T: **Yeah that would be great. Thanks for being so supportive Ally.**

A: _No problem, I know you'd do the same for me. Just come over whenever you want to._

T: **Okay, I'll see you in a bit.**

A: _Alright, bye._

Trish hung up. Ally sat in silence for a few minutes, thinking about Trish and her family and feeling so sorry for them, when there was a knock at the door. _'Wow, I didn't think Trish would be here this soon.'_ Ally thought to herself as she got up off the couch and walked over to the door.

"Hey Tri- _Austin!?_ " She exclaimed in shock as she saw the tall blonde smiling down at her.

"Good evening Ally." He replied warmly.

"Hi Austin, what's up?" She asked a little nervously, still in shock.

"Not much really. I was just on my way home and I realised I hadn't seen you for a few days."

"Oh, sorry about that…" She said, pausing and not knowing what to say. "Umm… would you like to come in for a coffee?" She was convinced he would say no, why would he want that?

"Sure, that'd be great!" Replied Austin quickly, a huge smile on his face and an excited glint in his eye.

"Great, come on in." A dumbfounded Ally said gently, moving to the side to let him in. He walked in and she shut the door, noticing the wonderful smell of this cologne as he walked past. _'Nice'_ she thought to herself.

Austin had stood just inside the apartment, waiting for Ally. "The kitchen's just down this way." She said, walking past him down the small corridor. This time it was Austin's turn to notice how sweet Ally's hair smelt as she breezed past. _'Nice'_ he thought to himself before following her.

"You have a nice apartment, by the way. Mine's just the same, only with different furniture of course." He felt like an idiot immediately after having said that. _'Really, Austin? That's the best you could come up with?'_ He thought.

"Oh, err, thanks. It's not much but it's a home." Replied Ally, nervously. She walked over to the kettle and put it on, before removing two cups from the cupboard. "What would you like to drink?" She asked.

"Just a black coffee will be fine, thanks." He replied, walking over and taking a seat on one of the stools at her breakfast bar. "So, how have you been?"

"I've been fine, thanks, quite busy working. How about you?"

"Yeah, I've been good. Just settling in to Miami life. I love it already." He replied confidently.

"Oh, nice. So, why did you move here from Seattle?"

"Seattle?" Austin said, momentarily confused.

"Umm yeah, you told me you moved here… from Seattle. When you gave me your jacket that night."

' _Crap, forgot about that'_ Thought Austin, wanting to smash his head onto the breakfast bar. "Oh, yeah, Seattle, of course!" He stammered, trying to appear cool and collected. "Uh, I moved here for my work." This, at least, was true.

"Oh, really? What do you do?"

"I just got signed with Starr Records," Austin said confidently but trying not to sound arrogant or cocky. "but I haven't released anything yet."

"Oh my God, really!? That is so cool!" Spluttered Ally, loving the fact that Austin was as into music as her.

"Yeah, it's always been a dream of mine." He replied. Ally just smiled at him. He smiled back. She could feel herself getting lost in his deep brown eyes again. "So Ally…" He began. Then, without thinking, he just heard himself say: "Do you have a boyfriend?" He instantly looked away, froze and started blushing, not quite believing he'd just said that.

' _Oh my God, did he just ask me that!?'_ Ally thought in disbelief. "Oh, uh… no, I don't." She stammered, blushing to match Austin. "Errrr… do you?" She nervously asked.

"No, no, I broke up with my last girlfriend a few months before I moved here." He replied gently.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. Was it because of the move?" Ally asked, walking over to the breakfast bar and putting her hand on his arm which he was leaning on. _'Oh my God I'm touching Austin!'_ She couldn't believe it. She wasn't the only one. _'Oh my God Ally's touching my arm!'_ Austin was ecstatic but didn't want her to know so kept on the sad face.

"No, no, we'd just… drifted apart I guess." He said, thinking back to those days and putting his hand on top of Ally's. Neither of them had their full attention on the conversation at this point. Austin looked up into Ally's eyes and they were both lost. They stood there, in silence, Ally's hand on Austin's muscular arm with his on top, oblivious to the world around them.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do… do you want to talk about it?" Ally asked, stuttering slightly as she was still lost in his eyes.

"If it's okay, I'd rather not really." Austin replied meekly, rubbing Ally's hand.

"Of course, of course." Ally said. They remained stood there looking at each other for a few seconds until they heard the kettle click, meaning the water was boiled. That snapped them out of their mutual trance, and they both started blushing and looking away realising what had just happened. Austin removed his hand from Ally's and Ally moved away from him, turning around and walking to the kettle so he wouldn't see her blushing.

"So, Ally, I never asked, what do you do?" He desperately changed the subject trying to regain his cool.

"Oh, I wor…" Ally was cut off by a knock at the door. "Oh, excuse me." She said.

"No, of course." Replied Austin kindly, sitting up a little bit.

Ally walked out of the kitchen to the door. Opening it, she was surprised to see Trish staring up at her. _'Oh damn it'_ Ally thought. She had gotten so lost with Austin she had completely forgotten that Trish was coming over because of her Grandad. "Oh… hi, Trish…" Stuttered Ally.

"Uh, hey Als. You okay, you look a little flushed…" Trish said, noticing Ally's still red face.

"Oh, yeah I'm fine, just forgot to turn a radiator off, still cooling down from it." Ally lied, trying to think of ways to deal with the situation. "Come on in." She said, moving to the side and shutting the door behind Trish as she walked in.

"You alone?" Trish asked casually as she walked in, feeling suspicious as she didn't notice any particular heat in the apartment, therefore knowing that Ally had been lying.

At this moment Austin walked out of the kitchen into the corridor, coming to meet whoever had walked in. The second Trish saw him, her jaw dropped to the floor. "Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Austin." He said coolly, holding out his hand to the shorter girl.

"Uh… h… hi, my name's Trish…" Stammered Trish, amazed by how good-looking Austin was. She took his hand and shook it gently.

"Well it's nice to meet you Trish." He said calmly, before letting go of her hand. He turned to Ally "Well, looks like I'd better get home, I'd hate to intrude on your evening." He said politely.

"Oh, yes, okay…" Said Ally, slightly annoyed and a little embarrassed.

He walked over to the door and opened it before walking into the corridor and turning to face Ally. "Night, Ally, I'll see you soon." He said gently.

"Yeah, night Austin." Smiled Ally in reply. He gave her a little wave and walked off down the corridor to his apartment.

Ally closed the door and turned around, to see Trish staring at her with her jaw wide open again. "Wow." Trish stammered. "So _that's_ Austin."

"Yep." Replied Ally, for some reason a little nervous.

"He is so _**hot**_!" Exclaimed Trish. Ally just smiled and nodded a little, and walked past her towards the kitchen. She made it a few steps when Trish said "He so totally fancies you."

"Trish!" Ally said loudly, quickly turning round to face her and beginning to blush again.

"What? It's so obvious that he does!"

"I told you, nothing's going to happen!"

"Only if nothing is you two totally getting together!"

"Trish!" Ally exclaimed again, getting more and more embarrassed.

"I can see why you were blushing." Trish said, wiggling her eyebrows at Ally.

"Oh my God Trish, stop!"

"Okay, fine. But he is cute."

"Ugh, I know." Ally moaned, remembering their moment lost in each other, as they started to walk towards the kitchen.

"A-ha! So you do like him!" Trish called out, pleased with herself.

"Wha.. no… I never… I just…" Ally tried, but was just waffling. "Oh, who am I kidding!" She finally gave up, sinking against a wall. "Yes, of course, he's gorgeous, sweet, kind, single, he seems perfect!" She said, burying her head in her hands.

Trish came and sat beside her, putting an arm around her shoulders. "Then what are you waiting for?" She asked encouragingly.

"Trish, there's no way we could be together." Ally replied sadly, looking up at her. "He's so hot, and I'm so not." She returned her face to its previous position in her hands.

"Ally that's crazy talk." Trish replied sensitively. "You're beautiful."

"Compared to him I'm nothing! He's handsome as hell, I'm not. He's tall, I'm not. He's so damn muscly, I have no boobs or bum, his body is perfect, I'm like a hermit!" She said sadly.

"Ally snap out of it!" Trish said sternly. "You're absolutely perfect the way you are. You have every chance with Austin."

"Thanks for the encouragement, Trish, but I'd rather not talk about it." She said, wanting to avoid the subject and move on. "Besides, I'm meant to be helping you. Are you okay? Would you like a drink? The kettle's just boiled." She said sweetly, getting up and walking back into the kitchen.

"Yeah, a coffee would be great." Trish said, getting up and following her, sitting in the same stool Austin had been not long before. "And I'm doing okay, thanks."

"So what happened? If you don't mind talking about it, that is." Ally asked carefully, busying herself with making two cups of coffee. She added milk and sugar to Trish's before getting out a packet of biscuits and bringing it all over to the counter. She moved around and sat on the stool next to Trish.

And so they sat there, Ally listening and comforting Trish whilst she was told everything. Trish looked like she was near tears at one point, but she didn't, because this was Trish and Trish never cried.

By around 11pm Trish had said everything and was feeling much better having talked about it with Ally. "Well, I better be going then." Said Trish quietly.

"Okay. You sure you want to drive home? You can stay overnight if you'd like." Offered Ally sweetly.

"No, no, I'll be fine. Besides I know you have to be up for work in the morning. Thanks for the offer though."

They got up and walked to the door. "Thanks for being there to listen to me Ally, your support means a lot." Trish said, giving Ally a big hug.

"No problem at all, Trish." Ally replied, returning the hug. "You call me if you need anything."

"I will. Goodnight."

And so Trish left. Ally closed and locked the door and went to bed.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey everyone, thanks for taking the time to read this story! Obviously, this is just how I've chosen to interpret the characters and they may not necessarily match up completely with those in the TV show.

This is a work in progress, so any feedback, comments and suggestions would be entirely welcome, as well as any suggestions for how you'd like to see the story progress. I will add chapters as often as I can, hopefully one every couple of days at least (although at the moment I seem to be able to put up 2 per day).

Also obviously, I do not own Austin & Ally in any way, shape or form.

So without further ado, here's the story! I hope you enjoy…

 **Chapter Four  
** **A Song**

Sonic Boom opened slightly earlier on Saturdays, so Ally went to bed immediately after Trish left on Friday night. Her alarm sounded at 7:00, so Ally leisurely got up, ate, showered, brushed her teeth and dressed. Today she had opted for black skinny jeans, a black belt, an electric blue vest top and a short black leather jacket (left open). At 8:00 she put on her cute black flats and coat, grabbed her phone and purse and walked out the door.

She was on time today, so she could walk comfortably to the mall without the fear of slipping over because she was going too quickly.

On the way she kept thinking back to her conversation with Austin the previous night, and got goose bumps just thinking about the way he put his hand over hers and she rubbed his arm. She was also secretly over the moon that he was single, but also sympathetic that the break up seemed to have hurt him quite a lot.

She got to the shop just before it opened at 8:30 and gave her Dad the usual greeting, throwing her stuff behind the counter as always.

The day started out pretty normal. It was fairly busy, as it was a Saturday so more people were out shopping, and Ally engrossed herself in helping customers and making sales.

At around 11:30, Ally was stunned when Austin walked through the door! _'Oh my God he's here, he's here, he's here!'_ Ally thought to herself, instantly getting super nervous and hoping she looked okay. When he saw Ally his face visibly brightened up and he shot her a huge smile. "Oh hey Ally!" He said excitedly.

"Good morning Austin!" She replied happily, returning his smile.

"I didn't know you worked here!" He said beaming as he walked over to her at the counter.

"Yeah, well I was just about to tell you last night, remember, but then Trish arrived."

"Oh, okay. So how'd you land this job? I didn't know you were into music!" He is really excited that she works here.

"My Dad owns the shop, so with my love of music it just seemed perfect really! Plus it can get really busy sometimes so it's nice to be able to help him out."

"Ah, this is so cool."

"So, how can I help you Mr…" She said professionally, halting when she realised she didn't know his last name.

"Moon." He said gently, still smiling at her.

"Well, Mr Moon, what can I do for you?"

"Oh, I just came in for some new guitar strings." Austin replied confidently.

Ally took him over to the guitar section whilst Lester took over at the till, and she helped him pick out the strings he needed. She took them back over to the counter, he paid her and she put them in a bag. "Here you go, _sir_." She said, jokingly.

"Thank you for your assistance, _madam_." He replied equally mockingly.

"Glad to help." Ally said smiling.

A small smirk emerged on Austin's face. "Say, Ally, I don't suppose you'd like to go and grab some coffee right now?" He asked with a hopeful shine in his eyes.

"Austin I'd love to, but I can't I have to keep working." Ally replied a little disappointed.

At this point Lester piped up "No, no, it's fine Ally. Go on a break for a while. I can handle things here for a while." He said smiling at her.

Ally turned to her Dad, smiling. "Are you sure Dad? It's been quite busy today…"

"Yes, I'm sure I'll be fine. Go and have some fun!" Lester was just happy to see Ally talking to a boy, let alone getting asked to go to get coffee – not that it was a date or anything.

"Okay, then, if you're absolutely sure Dad." Ally said. "Thanks."

She grabbed her purse and she and Austin walked out the door side by side. Austin wanted to hold Ally's hand, but resisted the urge as he didn't want to creep her out or annoy her if she got the wrong idea. I mean, technically this wasn't a date… he could only wish. "You look really pretty today, by the way." Austin said nervously, looking away from her so she might not notice him blushing.

She certainly blushed, she couldn't believe someone as handsome as Austin was complementing _her_. "Aww, thanks Austin, you look nice too." She smiled at him. He was wearing white converse, black skinny jeans, a blue long sleeve t-shirt and a white zip-up hoodie (which was unzipped at this point). Ally noticed particularly how the t-shirt tightly covered his muscly chest. She almost swooned there and then

"Thanks." Austin replied sheepishly, definitely getting red.

They walked to the same café that Ally had hidden from Austin in a few days before. "What would you like, Ally?" Austin asked sweetly as they walked in.

"I'll just get a black coffee." She said quietly, before starting to look in her purse for her money.

"No don't worry, I'll get these." Austin said smiling.

"Are you sure, Austin? It's fine, honestly." She replied, looking into his eyes.

"Please, I insist." He said. "You go and get us a table, I'll see you in a minute." He smiled gently at her.

"Okay." She agreed and smiled at him again before going and sitting at an empty table. She smiled to herself, really happy that Austin had decided to go to Sonic Boom that day and even happier to be getting coffee with him.

Austin got their drinks and looked around the café to find Ally. Seeing her in the far corner, he started to walk over to her. When he was about halfway, he saw a man slightly older than them approach her. _'Uh-oh.'_ He thought.

Ally looked up expecting to see Austin with their coffee and was shocked when it was some guy she'd never seen before. He looked around 26. Good-looking, but nothing compared to Austin. "Hey there." He said, obviously trying to be smooth. "You're real pretty, you know that?" He smirked at her.

"Umm… thanks I guess." Ally muttered nervously, feeling really uncomfortable and longing for Austin to get back to her quickly.

"Why don't I get you a coffee, and then I'll show you a real good time." He said seductively, winking and starting to stroke her arm. Ally felt like vomiting.

When Austin saw the guy start to stroke Ally's arm, a wave of rage flew over him and he sped towards the table. When he was about 3 steps away he called out "Hey, who the hell do you think you are hitting on my girlfriend!?" He said it without thinking, his only thought was of getting this guy out of here.

' _What? Girlfriend?'_ Ally thought to herself but didn't say anything, knowing it would only cause harm.

"Oh, sorry man, didn't realise she wasn't single." He said calmly, but clearly caught off guard.

"Well of course she is, just look at her!" Austin replied back fiercely. Ally blushed at this comment. "Now, scram!" He finished, threateningly and the guy backed away and left the café. Austin put the drinks down on the table and sat down, adrenaline still surging round his system a bit.

"Wow, Austin, I've never seen that side of you…" Ally said in awe. "But thank you for stepping in. He was making me really uncomfortable." She continued, picking up her coffee to take a sip.

"No, no problem, it was nothing. I just hated seeing you like that." Only at this point did he start to think about everything he'd said. "And sorry for saying you were my girlfriend, it was the only way it would have stopped him bothering you." He was a little embarrassed and afraid how she would respond.

"Oh, it's fine, I don't mind. I'm just glad you got him to stop. You're my hero." She replied, smiling at him and putting a hand on top of his. They both started blushing at the contact and after a few seconds Ally removed her hand and took another sip of her coffee, never breaking the eye contact between them.

"So, Ally, I guess since you work in a music store you must play some instruments." Austin said intrigued.

"Um… I guess so. I play piano, guitar and I can do the basics on the flute." She said nervously. "I've never played in front of anyone before, though."

"Why not?"

"I'm just too shy, I guess. I don't think I'm really that good, anyway."

"Ally, I'm sure you're great." He replied gently, looking into her eyes.

She blushed again. "What about you? Since you came into Sonic Boom for guitar strings I'm guessing that means you play some instruments too."

"Well yeah, music's my life really! I've been playing as long as I can remember…" He went into nostalgia mode for a few seconds, smiling to himself as he looked up towards the ceiling.

"What instruments can you play?"

"I'm not a master at anything, but I'm passable on piano, guitar, bass, drums and violin. And singing, of course." He said, smiling at her.

"Wow." Ally said, impressed by his skill. "I wish I could do all that."

Austin smiled gently and stared at his coffee. "Do you ever sing?" He asked Ally.

"No no no no no no no" Laughed Ally. "I can't sing."

"I'm sure you can, your voice sounds so nice when you're talking." He complimented her. More blushing from her side of the table.

"I mean, I occasionally do the whole singing in the shower thing, but never in front of anyone."

"Well, let me tell you it is the best feeling in the world when you're on a stage singing."

"Well I'm sure it is, Moon, but I'll leave that bit to you." She said smiling.

There was a few seconds of comfortable silence whilst they sat sipping their drinks, looking at each other 'discreetly' – of course they weren't really discreet at all and it was blatantly obvious.

"Oh, Ally, I almost forgot. I never got your phone number. Wanna trade numbers now?" He asked hopefully.

"Sure." Ally said, containing her excitement at getting his number. "Just let me get my phone out of my purse." She picked her purse up off the floor and started looking through for her phone. Unfortunately, it was right at the bottom so she had to dig through everything to get it.

On top was her small songbook in which she scribbled down song ideas whenever she had something in her head. Of course, no one was ever going to see them and they'd never be made into a proper song or anything… or so she thought. It was in her way so she casually picked it out and put it on the table before looking back into her bag in search of her phone.

"Hey, what's this?" Austin asked casually, picking up the book and flicking it open.

"Austin, no!" Ally called out, not wanting him to see the awful songs inside it, but it was too late. He was already reading.

"You write songs?" Austin asked, enthralled. "Why didn't you tell me?" He continued to flip through them.

Ally was still embarrassed and had hoped to keep the songs a secret, but it was too late now. "They're not very good, I just write in it if I have something stuck in my head." She explained sheepishly.

"Ally, what are you talking about, these are great!" Austin enthused as he continued to look through them.

"Really?" Ally asked, amazed that a _signed singer_ was complimenting _her songs_! "No one's ever seen them before; they were kind of my little secret." She spoke quietly, but in a way she was kind of relieved that someone was seeing them. Even better, it was Austin. Even better still, he liked them!

"Yes, really!" A sudden thought entered Austin's mind and his eyes lit up. He looked Ally directly in the eyes. "Will you write some songs for me?" He spoke barely above a whisper.

"What?" Ally couldn't believe what he'd just asked.

"You heard me!"

"Are you serious? You want me to write you songs?"

"Yes! These are great, and like I told you I haven't released anything yet. And there's a reason."

"This reason being…?" Ally prompted him, still in shock.

"I'm no good at writing songs. And all the songs that people have sent haven't been right for me. But I have a feeling you and me could write something incredible."

"I don't know Austin…" Ally stuttered, looking away from him.

"Please Ally, I need you to do this with me."

"Austin, I really don't think that…" She was interrupted by Austin putting his hands on hers and looking deep into her eyes.

"Please." He looked so anxious, so desperate, like he was putting his entire faith in her. "Look Ally, all I'm suggesting is we give it a try. We try and write one song together. If it works out well, great! We can talk about writing more. But if it doesn't…" He shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well. No harm no foul, right?"

Ally stared deep into his eyes. God he was cute. He was so trusting in her, so confident, and she guessed there was no harm in simply trying out one song. Although she was sceptical it would work. He started to rub her hands. "Okay." She said barely above a whisper, smiling at him. "I'll do it."

"YES!" Austin yelled out before he realised he was in public. "Thank you Ally, thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!" He jumped up and ran round the table to give Ally a hug. _'Oh my God. I'm hugging Austin.'_ Ally thought, savouring every second of it. Austin was thinking the same. _'Wow. I'm hugging Ally. This feels great.'_

After about 5 seconds they pulled out of the hug and sat back down. "Thank you so much Ally. This means the world to me." Austin said genuinely, smiling softly at her and looking her in the eye.

"You're welcome." Ally smiled back, returning the gaze.

"When and where do you want to start work?" Austin asked eager to get started as soon as possible.

"Umm… well Sonic Boom closes at 9. So if you met me there at about 8, business will be slowing down and my Dad can take over. There's this lovely piano in the back room where we can start writing. Plus, that way I'm still there if he needs any help." Ally suggested hopefully, liking her plan.

"That sounds perfect to me." Austin replied, smiling at her.

They sat there for about 5 more minutes, finishing their drinks sat in either pleasant silence staring at each other or making small talk.

When they were both finished, they got up and walked out of the café, side by side, back over to Sonic Boom. "Well, I guess I'll see you later then, Ally." Austin smiled at her outside the door.

"Yep, see you then." Ally smiled back at him and they once again got lost in each other's eyes. There was a few seconds of silence before Austin moved in and gave Ally a small hug. Only small because he wasn't sure how she would respond. As she hugged him, Ally felt herself melt in his arms and loved how strong and muscly he was. She rested her head on his chest for the duration.

When they pulled apart, Ally instantly missed the comfort and warmth of his hug. _'Snap out of it Ally,'_ she said to herself, _'you're not his girlfriend!'_ "Bye." She said sweetly, waving at him before going back into the shop.

"Hey honey, did you have a good time?" Lester called out to her as she entered.

"Yeah it was nice, we just went for coffee." Ally replied happily, putting her purse back behind the counter.

"So… he seems like a nice boy." Lester said, trying to seem casual.

"Dad, don't start this. Austin's just a friend."

"Okay, okay. But he does seem nice though."

"Dad!"

"Okay, okay, I get it. Sorry honey, I just… no, it doesn't matter." He said before turning back to the shelves he was busy putting guitar pics on.

Ally was glad that Lester had decided to drop the subject and got straight back into her work, and the time passed easily.

For Austin, meanwhile, it felt like the longest few hours of his life. He decided to go back to his apartment to freshen up and relax before he went back to meet Ally. He tried to walk back slowly, to kill off as much of the time as possible, but he was too giddy with excitement (and full of caffeine) and found himself positively racing back to Aqua Plaza.

He went up to his room and took a quick shower, eager to make a good impression on Ally. However, he didn't want it to be too obvious that he was making an effort, so he wore the same clothes he had that morning. _'This is ridiculous.'_ He thought to himself as he was drying his hair. _'We're only writing a song, not going on a bloody date! Besides, she probably doesn't even like me like that anyway. But I sure hope so.'_

He sat down on his sofa and flicked on the TV, trying to relax, but he didn't want to watch anything so turned it back off and pulled out his phone. He checked the time practically every two seconds, hoping against hope that time had magically flown by.

He was just about to check again when there was a knock at the door. He got up to answer it, at least glad that it would kill some time. Opening the door, he was surprised to see a short Latina girl that he vaguely recognised from somewhere… "Hello…. Oh! I remember you! You're Ally's friend, umm… Trish right?"

"Yep, that's me!" Trish replied, smiling softly.

"How can I help you Trish? Would you like to come in for a drink?" To be honest the last thing Austin needed at that moment was more caffeine, but he was just wanting to be polite.

"Uh, yeah, sure, that would be great." Trish said, as she walked past Austin who had moved to the side to let her past.

Austin led her through to the kitchen and made her some coffee. "So, Trish, first things first: how do you know where I live?" He asked, confused as to how she got his address.

"Oh, this is gonna sound crazy stalker-ish, but I knew you lived on this floor after talking with Ally, so I just knocked on all the doors until I found you. Sorry, it sounds really creepy!"

"Ally talked about me?" Austin asked excitedly. He couldn't care less how Trish found him, he was just so ecstatic that Ally had mentioned him!

"Oh yeah, she's talked about you." Trish said, smiling. "So I just came by because I wanted to say: thank you."

"What?" Austin was confused by this.

"Thank you. It's been a long time since I've heard Ally this excited about meeting anybody. Even if she refuses to admit it."

"Really?" Austin asked, in shock.

"Yeah, really. Ally's always been a bit of a recluse, you know, very quiet, keeps herself to herself. I'm so glad you've managed to bring her out of her shell, even just a little bit."

"Oh, umm… wow. Thanks. That's very kind of you."

"Even if you two aren't ever even proper friends, or you are, or you go out with her or not, you've still helped her make so much progress."

"Well, I, err… no problem. Ally's really nice." Austin started to blush.

Trish quickly finished off her coffee. "Anyway, Austin, it was nice to properly meet you, but I'd better get going or else I'll be late back to work."

Austin escorted Trish to the door and opened it for her. "Well thank you so much for dropping by, Trish."

"No problem. Once again, thank you for helping Ally. See you around." And with that she walked off down the corridor.

Austin closed the door, turned around, and just smiled and did a silent fist-pump. He couldn't believe Ally had actually talked fondly about him! He didn't mind how long he had to wait now, he was just really excited to see Ally again. This was the moment he realised that he really liked her. Like, a lot.

7:30 eventually rolled around, so Austin gave himself a quick spray with his cologne and walked back to Sonic Boom. He felt butterflies in his stomach as he walked in and saw her standing behind the counter. "Good evening, Miss Dawson." He said in a suave voice as he walked over to her.

"Hi Austin! You excited to get to work?" Ally replied cheerily.

"You have no idea! I have been so excited all afternoon!" He decided not to mention Trish's visit, he had a feeling Ally wouldn't really like it.

"Great, me too!" She replied before turning to her Dad. "Hey, Dad, it's okay if Austin and I go into the back to work on a song, right?"

"Yes, yes, of course, it should be pretty slow in here from now on anyway." Lester replied, smiling at her.

"Nice to meet you properly, Mr Dawson." Austin said politely, holding out his hand.

"Oh please, call me Lester." He replied nicely, taking Austin's hand and shaking it warmly.

Austin smiled and turned back to Ally. "I just need to run to the bathroom before we begin, I'll be right back." He said. Ally nodded okay and he turned and briskly walked out of the shop.

"What a nice young man." Lester said, turning to Ally. "How did you meet him?"

Ally decided not to tell her Dad the Starbucks story because he'd just laugh, so she simply replied "Oh, he lives on my floor in Aqua Plaza. I just met him when I was getting out of the elevator one night."

"So you're writing a song together?"

"Umm yeah…" began Ally, nervously. "Austin's newly signed with Starr Records but he doesn't have a writer, and he saw some of the songs in my book by accident…" She explained.

"Ah, okay." Lester understood. "Well I am _so proud_ of you, Ally. You're working with a signed singer!"

"Relax Dad, we're only trying to write one song at first, just to see if it works."

"Ally, I'm sure it'll be brilliant! You go write a great song." He beamed at her, just as Austin walked back in.

"Ready?" Ally asked.

"Yep, let's go." Austin replied, smiling. Ally led Austin to the back room and they went in and shut the door.

Ally wasn't kidding when she said there was a nice piano there. There really was! It was one of the nicest ones Austin had ever seen, and he felt like jumping up and down clapping his hands. He didn't, obviously. He was trying to keep up his macho look.

They both went and sat at the piano. They were very close together, their legs were practically touching, but somehow it didn't feel at all awkward.

"Okay, Moon, any ideas?" Ally asked, getting out stuff to write on and with.

"I was thinking maybe we could try a ballad for my first song? I really love getting into a song emotionally." Suggested Austin.

"Hmmm… yeah, okay. I think we can come up with something." Ally replied, and started humming to herself and playing a few notes on the piano.

Austin looked over and saw her scribble something down, and was very surprised when he heard her start to sing a line. Her voice sounded beautiful, like an angel's. When she stopped and looked back at the paper, he said: "Wow, Ally, your voice is beautiful." He looked her straight in the eyes as he spoke softly.

"You really think so?" Ally replied, returning his gaze.

"Yes, it's perfect!" Austin told her, smiling.

"Wow. Well, thank you. But that doesn't matter, this song is for you, so as long as you can sing it that's all that matters."

And so off they went, both equally suggesting ideas for melodies and lyrics. It was easy – the song seemed to just write itself! Before they knew it, they had written an entire song.

They played it through, Austin singing and playing a few notes of the piano, Ally listening and doing the main piano work. The song was slow, and flowed, and was just beautiful. They found themselves lost in their own little world as they played it start to finish, loving every second of it.

As he sang the last note, Austin turned to face Ally and at the same time she turned to face him. Their eyes met. They smiled. It just felt so right, there was a connection. Without realising what he was doing, Austin felt himself leaning in towards Ally, and she felt herself doing the same. Nothing else mattered at that moment, it was just Austin and Ally, both feeling like they never had before and leaning towards each other. Their foreheads met. Austin tilted his head and moved to close the gap between them.

Just as their lips were about to make contact, there was a loud knock on the door. Both of them opened their eyes wider immediately, and pulled away sharply, both in shock about what was just about to have happened and slightly embarrassed. They both blushed like crazy.

There was another knock, followed by Lester's voice calling in. "Ally?"

"Yeah Dad? Come in!" Ally yelled back.

The door opened and Lester popped his head round the door. "Sorry to interrupt, guys, but it's 9:00 now so I'm closing the store down for the night." He said smiling.

Neither of them could believe it was already 9:00, the time had gone so fast when they were writing the song. "Oh, it's okay, Dad. We'd just finished." Replied Ally, smiling. Then she turned to Austin. "Shall we walk home?"

"Sure." Austin smiled at her. They walked out of the back room, grabbing their new song and music and placing it all carefully in Ally's bag. Ally kissed Lester goodnight and Austin shook his hand and they left.

When they got outside Austin wanted to hold Ally's hand, but wasn't sure how she was feeling after what had happened at the end of the song. Ally felt exactly the same way, but neither of them knew what the other was thinking. So instead, as a sort of halfway, Austin instead offered Ally his arm, which she gratefully accepted.

They spent most of the walk home discussing the song and how much they both loved it, humming and singing different parts of it from time to time. Because of this, the walk back seemed to fly by, and they soon found themselves leaving the elevator and walking towards Ally's door.

"Thanks again for helping me write that song, Ally." Austin said sincerely, smiling down at her as they stood outside her door.

"No problem, Austin, it was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed working with you." Ally replied, returning the smile and trying to avoid getting transfixed by the eyes.

"Does this mean you'd like to do more songs with me?" Austin asked, hopefully.

"… Yeah. I don't see why not." Ally replied cheerfully.

"Oh my God Ally, thank you so much!" Gushed Austin, hugging her gently again.

"I'll text you with details in the morning." Ally smiled at him.

"Okay, I'll be waiting." Austin smirked.

"Goodnight, Austin." Ally said as she unlocked and opened her door.

"Sleep well, Ally." Austin said sweetly as she turned back round to face him.

There was nothing Austin wanted more in that moment than to kiss her, but he knew deep down that the timing wasn't right. So instead, he pulled her in for another hug. But this hug was… different. It wasn't so much a friendly hug as the rest had been, it felt… closer. Neither of them wanted the hug to end. Eventually, Ally pulled back. She gave a little wave and walked into her apartment, smiling softly at him as she shut the door and locked it.

As he walked down the corridor to his apartment, Austin gave another silent fist pump. He had a feeling this was only the beginning.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey everyone, thanks for taking the time to read this story! Obviously, this is just how I've chosen to interpret the characters and they may not necessarily match up completely with those in the TV show.

This is a work in progress, so any feedback, comments and suggestions would be entirely welcome, as well as any suggestions for how you'd like to see the story progress. I will add chapters as often as I can, hopefully one every couple of days at least.

Also obviously, I do not own Austin & Ally in any way, shape or form.

So without further ado, here's the story! I hope you enjoy…

 **Chapter Five**

 **Kissing and Crying**

Ally woke up the next morning feeling on top of the world. She couldn't believe everything that had happened the day before. Austin coming into the store… their mini date (even though it wasn't technically a date) to the café, the song… oh God, that beautiful song and how close it brought her to getting her first kiss… and to top it all off, a warm, romantic-feeling hug outside her apartment.

Sonic Boom was closed on Sundays, so Ally didn't have to get up as early as she usually did. Despite this, her body clock woke her up at 7:30, but she decided to stay in bed and just relax until 8:30, at which point she decided she simply couldn't bear the morning taste on her mouth any longer.

She had her usual breakfast, showered and washed her hair before brushing her teeth, getting dressed and drying and straightening her hair.

She then remembered that Austin had given her his number so they could discuss when and where to work on their next song and she couldn't wait to get started! However, she didn't know how long to wait before texting him because she didn't want to text him if he wasn't awake.

She waited until 10:00 before deciding she couldn't wait any longer (and that he should definitely be up by now, despite being a boy). " _Hey Austin, it's Ally. Any ideas about when and where to work on the next song? I don't have to work today because the shop's closed so I'm free all day!"_ Her text read. She debated putting a kiss at the end, but she was too shy and nervous.

She didn't have to wait long for a reply. " _Morning Ally, hope you slept well! I don't have any plans today either. How about we work on it at my place? I have a piano and guitar here so we should be able to do another good job! Xx"_ Ally blushed when she saw the kisses at the end of his text; she wasn't really expecting any, let alone two!

" _Okay, sounds good! I'll be round about 1ish? I just have a few minor errands to run around my apartment. Xx"_ Ally replied.

" _Yep, great! See you then Ally. Xx"_

Ally smiled to herself, and then decided to call Trish, she had so much to tell her about the previous night!

T: **Hey girl, how's it going?**

A: _Hi Trish, I'm good how are you? Are you feeling better after your Grandad?_

T: **Yeah I'm coping fine now, thanks. The funeral's on Friday so once that's out the way I'll definitely be back to my old self.**

A: _That's good to hear, Trish, but you've already been coping with it brilliantly so far. How's your Mom?_

T: **She spent most of yesterday sat in the kitchen crying, but that's to be expected I guess. She seemed to be feeling a bit better this morning, though. She's gone to his house today with her brothers to sort everything out.**

A: _Aww, well tell her I'm thinking of her when you see her._

T: **Thanks Ally. So, anyway, how's it going with Mr Moon?**

A: _Well…_

T: **Well? That's all you're gonna say? You being serious?**

A: _Ugh, sorry Trish, I just don't know where to start!_

T: **Just tell me!**

A: _Okay, well yesterday morning he walked into Sonic Boom. I swear to God I nearly died when I saw him!_

Ally could hear a mini giggle from the other end of the phone.

A: _So anyway he came in looking for guitar strings, because it turns out he's a musician._

T: **Oh really, what does he play?**

A: _Well this is where it gets interesting. He told me he's just been signed to Starr Records as a singer, although he hasn't released anything yet!_

T: **WHAT!?** Trish yelled, gasping. **He's a pop star!?**

A: _Yeah I know, I couldn't believe it either! Although he has the right look for it._

T: **Yeah, totally cute enough.**

A: Trish!

T: **Sorry. Couldn't help it.**

A: _So anyway, he was just turning to leave when he asked me if I wanted to go and get some coffee with him!_

T: **Like a date?**

A: _No, no. I don't think so, anyway._

T: **So you obviously said yes?**

A: _Well at first I said no because I had to stay and help out, but then my Dad insisted I took a break so I said yes._

T: **Good old Lester.**

A: _Yeah. So we walked across the mall to this small little café and he insisted on buying my drink while I found a table for us._

T: **What a perfect gentlemen.** Her voice had an air of teasing to it. Ally chose to ignore this.

A: _Anyway, so I go and sit down. I'm waiting for Austin when this creepy guy walks over and starts to hit on me._ Trish gasped. _Thankfully, just at that moment Austin was just walking back over with our drinks and he totally saved me!_

T: **Oh my God, Ally, are you okay?**

A: _Yeah, I'm fine, he didn't get anywhere I just started feeling really uncomfortable. So Austin's just saved me, and we're sitting there having our drinks and we decide to exchange numbers. So I go into my purse to get out my phone and put my songbook on the table cos it's in the way. Well before I know it, Austin's grabbed the book and is reading through it! I felt so nervous and embarrassed, but he just looked at me and told me it was really good._

T: **Ally, this is great! A professional singer just told you he likes your writing!**

A: _Hold on, it doesn't end here! He asked me to help him write a song!_

T: **Oh my God, this is huge! Please tell me you said yes!**

A: _Of course I did! So I told him to come back to the shop later that evening when it was a bit quieter and we could work on the song. We wrote one, and Trish it was absolutely beautiful! It went so well. So we played it through and he sang it, and it was just magical. And then…_ she hesitated.

T: **And then what!? Ally, do not leaving me on a cliff-hanger!**

A: _He leaned in to kiss me._ She said shyly. She heard Trish squeal in delight from the other end of the phone.

T: **Ahhh! How was it!?**

A: _Well that's the thing. We didn't kiss._

T: **WHAT!?**

A: _We were about to, but then my Dad knocked on the door cos it was 9 o'clock already._

T: **Damn it, Lester!**

A: _But Austin still walked home with me and we had a really sweet hug outside my apartment._

T: **Awww. So you haven't kissed him yet?**

A: _No._

T: **But you want to?**

A: _… maybe. I'm going over to his apartment at about 1 to work on the next song._

T: **This is so cute! Ally, I've gotta go or I'll be late for work, but you keep me updated with everything!**

A: _Okay, I will. Have a good day._

T: **You too.** She hung up.

Ally then busied herself with a bit of cleaning around her apartment while she waited for the time to crawl past until she needed to go to Austin's.

Meanwhile, Austin was really anxious but excited about writing another song with Ally. He showered and washed his hair, sprayed on his deodorant and decided what to wear.

He had noticed that Ally was a fan of leather as she wore a leather jacket the day before, so he decided on his red leather jacket, plain white V-neck t-shirt and black skinny jeans.

He spent his morning starting to come up with some ideas for the new song, so they'd have a head start when Ally got there that afternoon. He was quite happily humming away to himself, scribbling some ideas down and was surprised when he saw it was 12:55 already. He heard a knock at the door and his heart raced, his mouth immediately forming a huge grin. He positively ran to the door and opened it quickly, still beaming.

"Hey A…" He started before he stopping in his tracks when he realised it wasn't her. "Oh, hi, umm… Carrie wasn't it?" He began again, looking down at the woman who was staring up at him, a glint in her eye and smiling ear to ear.

Carrie had called on Austin before, shortly after he first moved in. She also lived in Aqua Plaza but was a few floors below Austin and Ally. It was obvious that she immediately had a crush on him as she wouldn't stop staring at him. He found her creepy. Today she was clearly dressed to impress, in white, tight skinny jeans that showed of her… derriere, with an orange tank top and black heels. She was certainly attractive, but Austin wasn't interested. He couldn't get Ally out of his mind.

"You know it" Carrie replied, giggling obnoxiously. "Can I come in?" She fluttered her eyelashes at him.

"Actually, Carrie, I…" He got no further.

"Great, thanks!" Carrie said, pushing past him and into his apartment.

"Okaaay…" Austin muttered, annoyed, as he closed the door and followed her. He found her lying on his couch in a really un-natural position that was clearly intended to show off her assets, still beaming.

"So, Austy," Carrie called out to him, pushing out her chest. He couldn't bear to look and disliked her even more for giving him a nickname. "watcha been up to?"

"Uh, not much really, I guess…" Austin said, feeling very uncomfortable around her. He really didn't want to be here with her but didn't want to be rude and kick her out.

"Cool!" Carrie replied enthusiastically, giggling again and clearly not listening to a word he was saying. "Have you been thinking about me?" She asked arrogantly, getting up and walking around towards him.

"Uh…" Austin stuttered uncomfortably, backing away from her slowly.

"Cos I can't get you off my mind." She said, trying to be seductive and wiggling her eyebrows at him. He felt like throwing up.

"Listen, Carrie, that's really sweet and all, but…" He began but was cut off by Carrie launching herself at him and kissing him. The kiss caught Austin off-guard and he went stumbling backwards into the wall, but Carrie went with him, never breaking the kiss. He tried to resist and pull away but she wouldn't let him

She licked at his lips, wanting him to open them, but he refused and kept them clamped shut. He tried to push her away but she locked her arms around him, holding him hostage. She began brushing her fingers through his hair, pulling on it gently. Austin was in hell. She started kissing all over his face and neck, and was gently pulling at his leather jacket.

"Carrie, get off!" He demanded whilst she was kissing his neck, holding onto his jacket to keep it on.

"Never." Carrie whispered seductively, giggling again. Austin hated that noise.

He was just about to forcefully push her off him when he heard a knock at the door. _'Thank God!'_ Austin thought. He didn't care who it was at that point, anything to get away from Carrie.

As she turned her head, shocked, Austin took his opportunity and pushed past her, running to the door to get away from her. He swung it open to reveal Ally standing there, smiling sweetly up at him. She looked absolutely beautiful, in a black and silver striped sweater-dress with black leggings and black wedges, with the just the right amount of natural make-up on her pretty face.

She instantly noticed the kiss marks all over his face and neck as well as his messed-up hair. Her smile instantly vanished and she suddenly felt sick.

Austin felt sick too, the colour draining from his face as he saw the look of hurt and confusion on Ally's face. "Austin?" She said, barely above a whisper. "What's going on?" She was on the verge of tears but managed to keep them in.

Austin was just about to try and explain and defend himself when Carrie sauntered up behind him. "What're we waiting for, Austy-Wausty?" She asked sweetly, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "Aww, who's your little friend?" She questioned innocently, looking at Ally.

Carrie and Ally had never met before, despite living in the same building, largely due to the fact that Ally was such an introvert.

"Austin?" Ally whispered, feeling her heart break into a million pieces.

"Ally, listen, I…" Austin started.

"No, Austin, save it. Sorry for interrupting, I didn't realise you were busy." She said sarcastically, glaring at him, her eyes welling up.

"Ally, really, you don't understa…"

"No, I understand just fine. Bye Austin." Ally said, her voice trembling. She turned and walked away, her hand to her mouth.

"No, Ally, wait!" Austin called after her, moving Carrie's arms off him and stepping to follow her. Ally just ran, not looking back. She ran into her apartment, slammed the door shut and locked it, before lying down on her couch and crying her eyes out.

"Aww, she seemed sweet." Carrie said innocently as Ally's door slammed shut. She wrapped her arm around Austin's and pulled him inside. As soon as she touched him Austin snapped his head around and glared at her more than he had ever glared at anyone. She shut the door. "Now, where were we?" Carrie pretended to wonder as they stood just inside Austin's doorway. "Oh yeah, I remember!" She giggled, moving in to kiss Austin again, but shocked when Austin pushed her away.

"No Carrie." Austin said sternly, trying to come to terms with what had just happened and also trying to hold back tears.

"Ooh, feisty! I like it!" Carrie said flirtatiously, once again trying to kiss him. She grabbed him and forced her lips against his, only to be pushed away again even more forcefully, gasping a little in surprise.

"Seriously, Carrie, no! Get out!" Austin was almost yelling as he pushed her away, pointing towards the door.

Carrie looked confused and hurt. "But Austin, I…" she began, giving him puppy-dog eyes.

"Carrie! Just get out! Get out and never come back!" He said with venom and distain in his voice. He could barely even look at her.

She looked shocked, and stuttered "Oh, okay then…" as she sheepishly walked to the door, opening it and walking out into the hallway. She turned to face him. "Listen, Austin, I…" But she got no further as Austin closed the door in her face without looking at her, locking the door.

He walked away, still confused, feeling like he'd just been stabbed straight through the heart. He went and lay on his bed, starting to gently cry.

Meanwhile, down the hall in her apartment, Ally had been sobbing harder than she ever had before for around 10 minutes. Her head hurt from crying so much, and there weren't even tears leaving her eyes anymore as she had completely emptied herself of them. Her make-up was now a mess and the cushion she was crying into was soaking on the side she'd been holding to her face.

Her phone was ringing continuously, every time it was Austin, and seeing the little hearts she'd put next to his name just made her cry even more. She immediately declined the call every time.

She eventually stopped crying, put down the cushion and sat up, feeling weak and sniffling. She reached for her phone to call Trish. If anyone would be there for her at that moment it was her best friend. There were a couple of rings before she picked up.

T: **Hey Als, what's up? Shouldn't you be working on your song with Austin?**

A: _Hi Trish._ Ally sounded really weak and vulnerable, and Trish instantly knew something was wrong.

T: **Ally, what's going on? Are you okay?**

A: _Aus… and that's all she got out before she started to cry again._

T: **Ally, please don't cry! What's happening? Is it Austin, is he okay, has something happened to him?**

Ally managed to stop her crying, although she was still sniffling as she spoke.

A: _No, Austin's fine it seems. He's having the time of his life. She said in a jealous, almost sarcastic voice._

T: **Uh-oh. What's he done?** Trish sounded immediately angrier. **I'll kill him!**

A: _It seems Austin is with someone right now. I feel like an idiot Trish, he told me he'd broken up with his last girlfriend before he moved here!_

T: **WHAT!? THAT SON OF A BITCH! How did you find out!?**

A: _Well I went over there to write the song, and he opened the door with kiss marks all over his face and neck, and his hair was messed up. It's like he was mocking me, Trish! Then some beautiful brunette girl came up behind him and draped her arms around him… Ally started to softly cry again._

T: **Oh my God! Ally, give me his phone number, I'll sort him out!** She sounded ready to hit someone.

A _: No Trish, it's not worth it. I guess it's my own fault, I should've known someone as perfect as him was taken. I just feel so stupid!_ She managed to get out in between sobs.

T: **Seriously, let me talk to him! Now!** Ally knew there was no way Trish would take no for an answer, so she gave her the number, still crying. **Stay strong, Al, okay? He's not worth it. I'll speak to you later.** And she hung up. And that's all Ally remembered before she passed out.

Austin lay on his bed in his apartment, crying a little as he repeatedly tried to call Ally to talk to her. The first time it had taken a few rings before his call was declined, but after that every time it was declined instantly. He knew it was futile, but he kept on trying hoping against hope she would pick up.

Eventually, when he called he heard the 'phone engaged' sound, at which point he gave up, and turned to lie on his front. He was furious at Carrie for getting him into this position. He was mad at himself for letting himself get into that position. He was a little mad at Ally for refusing to talk to him. But most of all, he felt… empty.

Suddenly his phone started to ring, and his heart leapt, hoping it would be Ally. When he saw it was an unknown number, at first he wanted to decline and go back to crying, but he decided in the end to take a deep breath and answer the phone. "Hello?" he answered nervously.

T: **YOU!** Trish yelled.

A: _Trish?_ Austin replied, confused.

T: **HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ALLY? YOU ABSOLUTE BASTARD!**

A: _Trish, let me explain._ Austin begged. He didn't even expect to finish that sentence.

T: **This had better be a good reason!** Trish threatened.

A: _Trish, I wasn't kissing Carrie, she was kissing me! I tried to stop her but she wouldn't!_

T: **That's what they all say! How dumb do you think I am!? 'You tried to stop her'? You're pathetic!**

A: _No, please, you have to believe me! Carrie just walked into my apartment and started kissing me, it felt disgusting! I kicked Carrie out as soon as Ally left and I'm never going to look at her again!_

T: **Austin, really, you…**

A: _Trish, listen to me. I would never do something like that to hurt Ally. I really, really like her._ Trish could hear nothing but honesty in his voice.

T: **I don't know, I…**

A _: I love her_. Austin muttered, shocking himself when he heard himself say it.

T: **What did you say?** Trish asked astonished, not quite believing it either.

A: _I love Ally Dawson. I love her._

T: **Oh my God.** Trish could tell he was being genuine, and instantly felt bad for accusing him. **Okay, Austin, I believe you. I'm so sorry I yelled at you.**

A: _No, Trish, don't apologise. I know you were just trying to protect Ally._

T: **You really love her? You've only known her for a few days!**

A: _I know, it sounds crazy, but I've never felt the way I do around Ally. I haven't felt anything close to it since…_ and he trailed off.

T: **Since your last girlfriend in Seattle?** Trish offered.

A: _Yeah._ He was barely speaking above a whisper _. How did you know?_

T: **Ally told me. She really cares about you, Austin, but she's not going to move on from it quickly.**

A: _I know, and I completely understand that. I'm so sorry for everything. I feel so mad at myself._

T: **Don't be, Austin. It wasn't your fault. But thank you for understanding about Ally. Just give her some space for a while, she's never gone through something like this before.**

A: _Okay, no problem. Thank you for believing me Trish, it means a lot_.

T: **And thank you for caring so much about her. Good luck.**

And she hung up, quickly. Austin felt a little bit better knowing that Trish believed him, but he was still heartbroken. He wanted to just talk to Ally and make up with her, but remembering what Trish had said, he knew it was best to just leave it and give her space and time.

He remained lying on his bed for the rest of the day, not wanting to eat, drink, or do anything but lie there. He cried from time to time in short bursts, until he eventually drifted off to sleep.

Ally woke up a few hours after passing out on the couch, feeling dazed, sore, and completely heartbroken. It was dark, and she didn't feel like doing anything except going to bed. She lifted herself up and staggered into her bedroom, flopping onto her bed without changing her clothes (although she did kick off her wedges). She curled up into a ball on her bed and cried herself to sleep…


	6. Chapter 6

Hey everyone, thanks for taking the time to read this story! Obviously, this is just how I've chosen to interpret the characters and they may not necessarily match up completely with those in the TV show.

This is a work in progress, so any feedback, comments and suggestions would be entirely welcome, as well as any suggestions for how you'd like to see the story progress. I will add chapters as often as I can, hopefully one every couple of days at least.

Things went a little haywire for Auslly in the last chapter; let's see if Austin can win back her heart in this one…

 **Slight spoiler but also important:** This chapter contains scenes detailing violence and assault. If this is something that triggers or upsets you, you may want to skip parts of this chapter.

Obviously, I do not own Austin & Ally in any way, shape or form.

So without further ado, here's the story! I hope you enjoy…

 **Chapter Six  
** **Breaks and Bruises**

It was Wednesday, 3 days since the whole Austin-Carrie incident. Ally had been avoiding Austin since. She still felt like an idiot for believing that she could ever be with Austin and that he could ever really like her. She hated him for leading her on and was trying desperately to get him out of her head and move on.

' _This is why I've never been in a relationship before.'_ She kept constantly thinking to herself. So then why did she still for some reason long for his touch, his beautiful face, hair, eyes and his big muscular arms wrapping her in a tight hug? Ultimately she knew deep down that she still liked him. Maybe even loved him…

' _No, Ally, snap out of it!'_ She thought to herself. _'He completely broke your heart, how could you be so stupid as to want to give him another chance?'_ Her constant self-conflict and thinking was also starting to impact on her work. She spent half her day leaning on the counter, depressed, thinking about Austin and feeling sorry for herself.

When Lester first realised she wasn't herself, he got worried. "Ally, you okay?" He asked her from time to time. Every time she just nodded, not saying a word. It was just after lunch on Wednesday, and Ally was hunched over the counter again, daydreaming.

"You okay, honey?" Lester asked getting more and more concerned as Ally never seemed to improve. She just nodded again. "Okay. You tell me if you want to talk, okay?" She nodded again, knowing full well she would never tell her Dad about what had happened. He made the mistake of casually asking "So. How's everything with Austin? Wrote any more songs yet?"

At the mention of his name Ally started bawling again, running out from behind the counter and into the back room, locking the door. She walked over and sat at the piano, still crying. She found herself playing the song she and Austin had wrote a few days before. All the memories came flooding back to her. How beautiful the song was, especially when he sang it, the way he looked at her during it, the moment he leaned in for the kiss… and she stopped playing as it all became too much, getting up and sitting in a corner of the room crying for the rest of the day.

She felt like an idiot, and she felt stupid for being so sad about it. Why did she care this much? It's not like he was the first person she'd ever had a crush on. She also felt stupid because she knew that Austin wouldn't care and that he would be perfectly happy with Carrier.

Little did she know.

Austin had hit rock bottom. He had barely left his apartment all week, only really when he was forced to be at work in the studio. Austin's boss Jimmy, the head of Starr Records, was not your typical boss, though. He was more like a friend than an employer, and he could tell something was wrong with Austin. "Austin, you've been acting odd for three days now. Why don't you tell me what's going on?" He asked Austin gently on Wednesday afternoon when he'd forced himself to come into work.

"I just feel so stupid. I'm in love with this girl but I really messed up." Austin replied, sitting on the floor with his knees up, looking at his shoes.

"What happened?" Jimmy persuaded, not wanting to come across as too forceful.

"Listen, Jimmy, I'd really rather not talk about it."

"Austin, trust me. I've had my share of rough experienced, and I can tell you for a fact that the best thing you can do right now is talk about it."

Austin sighed heavily before telling Jimmy what had happened. "I invited over this girl. You know, the one I really like. There's a knock at the door and I answer it, expecting to see her. But instead, it's this other girl from downstairs who walks straight into my apartment. Before I know it, she's kissing me and running her hands through my hair. I tried to get her to stop but she wouldn't. There's another knock at the door and I go to answer it, glad to get away from her. I look like a mess. I open the door, and there's the girl I like. I can instantly tell she's hurt and confused seeing me like I am. I try to explain but she runs off crying." Austin finished, his eyes welling up with tears.

"Oh, Austin. I'm so sorry." Jimmy says after a few seconds of silence. "I know this is hard for you, but you need to remember that none of this is your fault. Okay?"

"No, I know it's not all my fault, but it's not okay. I miss her."

"Of course you do. And it'll all come right in the end, I'm sure. But for now, you just need to keep your head up, stay strong and wait. You'll know when the time's right to talk to her about it." He walked over and rubbed Austin's back, encouragingly.

"Thanks Jimmy."

"No problem." There were a few more seconds of silence. "So, Austin. Your music." Austin still hadn't released or even recorded a single song yet. "I hate to have to hurry you, buddy, but we're gonna need a demo by the end of the week, or else we may have to drop your contract."

Austin's heart stopped for a minute. Drop his contract? What would he do then? He had nothing to fall back on! "End of the week?" He stuttered, going a bit pale. His week just kept getting worse and worse and worse.

Jimmy hated having to tell him this, especially seeing as he was going through such a tough time. But business was business, and he couldn't afford to have Austin not making any progress. "Yes. I'm sorry. Have you had any song ideas yet?"

"Well, actually, I…" Austin stopped, remembering the song he'd written with Ally but then deciding not to mention it. Too late.

"Yes?" Jimmy prompted.

"I have written a song."

"Really?" Jimmy's eyes lit up.

"Well, half-wrote it. With this girl I'm talking about."

Jimmy realised it would be tough for Austin to play the song as it would cause him to think back to it. But he needed something. "Would you play it for me?"

Austin considered for a few seconds. "I don't know, Jimmy, I haven't played it since… well, you know."

"I understand Austin. But this might be exactly what you need, you can really pour out all of your emotions into the song."

Austin considered for a few more seconds, realising that it would help get his emotions out but also afraid he'd break down halfway through. "Okay." He eventually said, quietly. Jimmy just smiled gently at him. He got up and walked over to the piano, sitting down and putting his fingers over the notes. He began to play and quickly got into the song, completely getting lost in it and forgetting all his surroundings, in his own little world.

He gave his all in the final chorus, spilling out all his emotions and feelings into the lyrics. When he finished, he sat in silence for about a minute, just looking down at his hands resting on the piano keys. It felt good to be free of all those built up emotions, but it also made him realise exactly how much he missed Ally. He knew he missed her, but now it actually felt like he was only half a person.

Jimmy sat in his chair across the room, amazed by the song Austin had just sung, and giving him a moment to himself to collect his thoughts before speaking. "Wow, Austin. That was incredible. That song is beautiful. You said you wrote it with the girl?"

"Yes." Austin said quietly, still slightly dazed and still looking at his hands on the piano keys. "Yes, we wrote it on Saturday night."

"Well it's clear this friend of yours has a gift. You two seem to make a wonderful team." For the first time in a long time, Austin smiled.

"Yeah. I suppose we do." His face quickly dropped again, though. "Or at least, we did."

"How would you feel about recording a demo of this song? This could be your first single." Jimmy asked, hopefully.

Austin sat in silence for a minute, debating. Jimmy began to wonder if Austin had even heard what he'd said. "I don't know, Jimmy. I love the song, but I wouldn't feel right singing it, at least without her permission. It's every bit as much her song as it is mine."

"I understand. You think about it tonight, and get back to me with an answer tomorrow morning. If it's a yes, we can record the song straight away. If not, we'll have to come up with something, fast."

"Okay, Jimmy. I guess I'll see you in the morning." Austin got up and left, still in his own little world and thinking about how good it felt singing the song, how it made him realise how much he needed Ally, but worried about how he needed a song to be recorded by Friday. He got home and sat on his couch, but he didn't switch on the TV. He just sat there, in complete silence, for hours, thinking.

Meanwhile at Sonic Boom, Ally had stopped crying. But she stayed in the back room, embarrassed to see her Dad after having broken down in front of him earlier. She didn't know what time it was, her phone was in her purse behind the counter. But she didn't care, either.

At some point, though she heard a knock on the door, followed by Lester's voice. "Ally, sweetie? Can I come in?"

Ally realised she'd have to leave at some point, so she got up and went over to unlock the door. She opened it and immediately gave him a big hug. It was just what she needed to pour out a few more of her emotions. "What's going on, Ally? It breaks my heart to see you this way." He said comfortingly, rubbing her back.

Ally told him everything. She didn't really want to, but she thought it would feel good to get everything out in the open. She told him about the song and how much she loved it, the near-kiss (at which point he apologised, realising he'd kind of ruined a moment), the arrangement, how he had opened the door and how she'd ran away.

When she was done Lester just engulfed her in another hug, sensing that she needed it. He was right. "And you haven't spoken to him since?" He asked.

"No. He tried to call me repeatedly on the day it happened but I just ignored it."

"Well, honey, this is a big thing for you. It's your first big crush, so of course it's going to be difficult when things get tough. But what we have to do when these things happen is not let them get us down. We have to get up, dust ourselves off and face the world. Okay?"

"Yeah, thanks Dad." Ally said, feeling much better having spoken about it, but still desperately hurting inside.

"Alright Als. Remember, I love you loads."

"I love you too Dad." He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead.

"Anyway, it's 9:05 now, the shop's closed. Why don't you go home and have a nice relax?"

"Yeah, that'd be nice." Ally thinks to herself, brightening up as she pushed all thoughts of Austin to the back of her mind. "I'll see you in the morning Dad." She picked up her stuff and was about to leave.

"Honey, you don't have to come in if you're not feeling up to it. I know things are difficult right now."

"Thanks Dad. I think I should be okay to come in but I'll text you in the morning if I don't feel up to it."

"No problem. Have a good night."

Ally walked out of the shop, feeling optimistic and started to walk home.

Meanwhile, in his apartment, Austin was feeling restless. He'd been sat on the couch all evening, and he was getting bored. He decided he needed to stretch his legs for a bit, so he got his coat and shoes on and left to go for a short walk. It was quite a cold evening, at least for Miami weather, so he was walking fairly briskly to keep himself warm.

The streets were virtually empty and it was dark, but he didn't mind as it gave him time to just be alone and think.

Ally was doing the same walking in the opposite direction, trying to get home as quickly as possible. As she was walking, she thought she could see Austin walking towards her in the distance, but he hadn't seen her. She instantly froze, not knowing whether she should be happy to see him and run up and embrace him, or turn in the other direction and run.

Before she could make her mind up, she felt a hand grab onto her arm and drag her into an alleyway. She found herself face to face with the same guy who had tried to hit on her in the café on Saturday. Before she could scream, he brought his hand up to her mouth and pinned her against the brick wall.

"Well well, look what we have here. Remember me, gorgeous? Where's your boyfriend now, huh?" He smirked, chuckling evilly before he removed his hand from her mouth only to instantly replace it with his lips. He tried to pry hers open but she refused, starting to cry and convincing herself that she was going to be raped and murdered. It also dawned on her that this was her very first kiss! Far from the romantic, perfect image she had in her mind, she was also convinced that it would be not only her first but also probably one of her last kisses.

He pulled away and she tried to scream, but as soon as she opened her mouth the man slapped her, making her wince in pain. "Shut up, idiot!" He threatened and slapped her again, before pressing his lips back onto hers. He started to shove one hand up her top, moving towards her boobs, whilst the other held her to the wall at her hips.

Ally tried to squirm out of his grasp, but there was no way he was letting go. She was really crying now, desperate for someone, anyone to save her. Then she remembered Austin, and opened her mouth to call his name, only to have him take the opportunity to stick his tongue down her throat. She instantly squealed as their tongues made contact, resulting in another slap in the face, but also a knee in the stomach, winding her badly.

She fell to the ground, wheezing severely trying to regain the breath that had been knocked out of her. At this moment the man dove on top of her, reconnecting their lips. He used one hand to pin both hands above her head and with the other he started unbuttoning and unzipping her jeans. _'This is it'_ Ally thought to herself, _'Why me? What have I done to deserve this?'_ She was still crying hard and desperately writhing around trying to break free, but she knew that it was futile. "No, please!" She cried out, receiving in return the three hardest slaps so far, and a sharp pain in her wrist as she felt him crush his arm down on it extra hard. She wanted to scream out in pain, but his lips were against hers again so it was all just muffled. He would have his wicked way with her. He started to pull down her jeans…

Austin was walking along the street, deep in thought, when he thought he heard soft whimpering and sobbing. He initially just thought it was the wind and didn't give it a second thought, but as he continued walking they became louder. He knew something was definitely wrong and increased his pace.

He suddenly heard a familiar voice shout out "No, please!" followed shortly by a muffled scream. His heart completely stopped as he recognised the voice as Ally's. Adrenaline fired round his system faster and more forcefully than it ever had before and he ran towards the sound of her voice.

As he approached a small alleyway that he didn't even know existed, he was ready to take down whoever had dared so much as lay a finger on Ally. He stopped at the entrance to the alleyway and was horrified when he saw the small figure of Ally struggling around underneath the bigger body of a man who's face he couldn't see.

"GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF HER!" Austin yelled, rage taking over him as he charged at him, tackling him off of Ally and turning him over so he could see his face. He instantly recognised it. "You again! How many times do I have to do this?" He said in between punches, as he thought about nothing but hitting this guy as hard as he could in the face repeatedly, until his knuckles hurt and he was sure the man was knocked out (but not dead, of course).

As he looked down at the guy he'd just beat up, he could still hear Ally crying softly just behind them. He instantly turned around and moved over to her, on the verge of tears just from seeing her this way. "Ally, are you okay?" He whispered gently as he zipped up and buttoned up her jeans, knowing that she'd want her modesty protected. She didn't respond, she was just crying her eyes out, embarrassed, ashamed and in pain.

He couldn't see her properly because it was dark and there were no lights in the alley, so he couldn't see the emerging bruises on her face and her swollen wrist from the violence. Austin picked her up in his arms and put her on her feet, immediately pulling her in close and hugging her like his life depended on it. "Ally I'm so sorry for everything, my life's been meaningless without you these past few days and I've missed you so much. Are you okay? Did he… you know?" He was trying to be sensitive.

Ally was still sobbing, burying her face in his strong chest and squeezing onto him, feeling safe and secure in his arms. "Oh Austin. I'm so sorry I got mad at you, I've missed you so much too!" Her speech was all disjointed as she was still crying, and Austin could feel his t-shirt getting wet where she was crying into his chest.

"Come on, we'd better get out of here. He won't be happy when he wakes up." Austin moved away from the hug but kept an arm firmly around her waist, keeping them close together. Ally's bag had been thrown against the wall, and all the stuff was spilling out onto the floor. Austin gathered it all up and slung it over his shoulder, before returning his arm around her waist and guiding her out into the street.

They walked a couple of minutes back towards the apartment building and stopped in a small park area with benches and street lights. Austin guided her to a bench and they sat down. Only at this point did Austin look at her face properly and see the damage done by the slaps. "Oh my God Ally," he whispered, going pale. "are you okay?" He gently stroked his hand over the marks, taking care not to hurt her. "What happened? Tell me everything."

Ally was reluctant, but then she did, explaining the torture she'd gone through. "So he didn't actually…" Austin hesitated, worried.

"No, he didn't get that far. He would have done if you hadn't shown up and saved me though. Austin, that's twice now that you've saved me. You really are my hero." She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek, and he started to blush. She moved her hand to put it on top of his, but winced in pain when she moved her wrist.

"What is it, what's wrong?" Austin said worriedly, looking down and seeing her bruised, swollen wrist. "Oh my God Ally, this is really bad. We need to get you to the hospital, now!" She initially tried to protest, but Austin insisted. They got up and Austin put his arm back around Ally's waist. She felt so protected and safe when they were like that.

They walked quickly to the nearest hospital a couple of blocks away and waited to see a doctor. When they were seen, he of course asked what happened. Ally was very hesitant at first, but Austin took her hand and squeezed it, looking deep into her eyes and giving her a reassuring look as if to say "Don't worry, I'm here now. It will all be alright." So she started to explain everything, and the doctor nodded sympathetically, examining her wrist first of all but also her face because of the slaps and her stomach because of the winding.

"Well Ally," he finally said "you're very lucky this young man turned up to rescue you. We should all be thankful that he did, otherwise I fear things would have turned out far worse. Your face will be sore for a while but nothing serious, and same with your stomach. But we shall have to x-ray your wrist as it looks badly broken."

So they got the x-ray and it showed that the wrist was indeed broken, several bones being snapped completely in half. The doctor and nurses applied a cast to it, but told her that she would not need to wear a sling as it was only a wrist break. They then discharged her and told her to come back in a month's time to check on the development.

"Thank you very much doctor." Ally said as they got ready to leave.

"Don't thank me, thank your heroic boyfriend here." The doctor replied, indicating to Austin. Ally and Austin both blushed but neither could be bothered to correct him.

As they left the hospital to walk back to the apartment building, Ally decided she should call her Dad and tell him what had happened. Austin got it out of the bag and handed it to her. Her voice started to quake as soon as she started speaking. "Hi Dad… no, I'm fine, but I need to tell you something… I was just nearly raped… no Dad, I'm fine, Austin showed up just in time and saved me… yes, Austin… I know… yes, I'm fine, but my wrist is broken and my face is bruised… yes, I will… thanks, I think I could do with a day off after that… I'll call you in the morning Dad… love you." And then she hung up.

They got back to the apartment building and entered the lift. When they were stood waiting as the lift ascended, Ally found herself hugging Austin again, never wanting to let go. "Thank you again, Austin. I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for you." Those words stayed in Austin's head for a long time and he hugged her back, just wanting her to feel safe. Which she did.

"You want to stay at my place tonight?" He offered as they stepped out of the lift, his hand still around her waist.

"Are you sure?" Ally replied, nervously.

"Ally, you've just gone through a traumatic experience. I'd feel better if you stayed with me tonight, just so I know you're okay."

"Alright then." Ally replied, smiling at him.

She nipped into her apartment to get her pyjamas, and then headed over to Austin's. Once she was inside he locked the door and checked it several times. It was well past midnight and they were both tired, so they decided to go to bed. Ally changed in the bathroom and got into Austin's king-size bed. Austin then went into the bathroom to change and brush his teeth, and came out topless in just sweatpants. She was shocked but admired how muscular he was, with a full 6-pack, strong chest and muscular arms.

He climbed into bed next to her. He tried to get to sleep, but looking over at Ally he couldn't believe what she'd gone through. So, he scooted over and put his arm over her. Ally secretly smiled to herself before falling asleep, snugly in his arms.

Ally had flashbacks many times that night, remembering the horrible feelings she experienced. She woke up panting about 5 times, but every time immediately felt better when she realised she was safe in Austin's arms. She was glad she'd agreed to stay with him.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey everyone, thanks for taking the time to read this story! Obviously, this is just how I've chosen to interpret the characters and they may not necessarily match up completely with those in the TV show.

This is a work in progress, so any feedback, comments and suggestions would be entirely welcome, as well as any suggestions for how you'd like to see the story progress. I will add chapters as often as I can, it just depends on how many ideas I have!

Also obviously, I do not own Austin & Ally in any way, shape or form.

So without further ado, here's the story! I hope you enjoy…

 **Chapter Seven  
** **Forgiveness and Thankfulness**

Austin could barely sleep that night, even with Ally wrapped in his arms. He felt like what had happened to her was all his fault, as if she hadn't seen him with Carrie they probably would have been walking home together having written another song. All he wanted to do was keep Ally close to him all the time, but he knew that was physically impossible. He also knew that she was still in shock from the trauma and wouldn't have completely forgiven him just like that.

He also felt her wake up several times during the night, panting, obviously remembering everything. He hugged her tighter whenever this happened.

Austin finally fell asleep at around 2a.m., hoping Ally would still be there in his arms when he woke up.

The long night had taken its effect on the pair, and neither of them woke up until around 9:30. Luckily Lester had insisted Ally had the day off work after she called him when they left the hospital.

Austin woke up first, at around 9:00, but didn't move when he saw Ally was still fast asleep in his arms, instead he enjoyed the feeling and sight of her, and just lay there comfortably with her. She finally awoke about half an hour later, demonstrated by her stretching out her limbs, nearly pushing Austin off the bed as she did so.

At first Ally was a little confused where she was, not recognising her surroundings. Then she noticed the arm around her and turned to see Austin smiling at her gently. "Good morning Ally," He murmured gently. "How did you sleep?"

"Oh, uh… morning Austin. I slept okay, I guess, I woke up a few times but I quickly fell asleep again. Thank you for letting me stay, it helped a lot."

"No problem. I'm just so glad you're safe." He said softly, wrapping her in another big hug.

"And I'm just glad you got there when you did. He was about to rape me, Austin. I mean what I said last night. You're always there just in time. You're my hero." She buried her head in his chest, and started to cry a little as all the feelings came back to her. "Sorry for crying." She said, feeling pathetic as she wiped her eyes.

"No, no, it's fine. Don't bottle it up, you haven't had a chance to properly pour out your emotions yet. Don't be embarrassed if you need to cry." Austin reassured her.

And that was it. It was like flood gates opening, and Ally was off, eyes like waterfalls. She curled up next to him, head on his chest, with his arms tightly around her. She cried and she cried and she cried. This was she hardest she had since the Carrie situation, but she felt better knowing Austin was there to look after her this time.

Small puddles of tears collected on Austin's chest, but he didn't mind one bit and just held her as tight as he could. She cried for about 20 minutes straight, whilst Austin stroked her hair and back gently. When she stopped, her eyes were all red and puffy and her bruised and battered cheeks were damp. He gently rubbed them with his thumb. He still thought she was beautiful.

They eventually decided they should get up. Austin told Ally that she could go and take a shower whilst he went and made them some breakfast. Austin was hesitant to break the hug and get out of the bed, but he knew he had to. They both immediately missed each other even though they were stood just on opposite sides of the bed. Austin pulled on a t-shirt as it was a little cold in the apartment before leaving the bedroom and walking into the kitchen.

Ally took her shower but then realised she didn't have any new clothes with her, so had to put back on the ones she was wearing the day before. As she was getting dressed she noticed the smell of pancakes wafting through the apartment.

She walked into the kitchen and asked how long the pancakes would be because she wanted to run home and change. "Ten minutes, you should have time." Came the reply, and with that she positively ran out of the apartment down the corridor to her own. Quick change. She then ran back. She didn't bother wearing anything particularly cute, she wasn't feeling up to it, so she just threw on some black jeans and a red V-neck. She then ran back to Austin's, and didn't knocking on the door, knowing he would be fine with it.

"Hey, I'm back." She called out to him as she walked back into the kitchen. Austin was stood over the stove, his back turned to her.

"Just in time!" He replied, turning round to face her, beaming. "The pancakes are done." It was still quite cold in his apartment and he noticed she was shivering slightly as she was only wearing a V-neck. "Hold on, one sec." He said as he ran through to his wardrobe in the bedroom. He pulled out a black zip-up hoodie and brought it out to her. "Put this on, you look cold."

"Thanks Austin, you're so sweet." She put it on and zipped it up and went and sat at the table where Austin brought over two plates of pancakes. They ate in comfortable silence. Austin sped through his – he _loved_ pancakes! Ally wasn't far behind, though, having not eaten much the day before.

Austin sat there looking at Ally, admiring her beauty. He was about to say something when he heard his phone go off in the bedroom, meaning he'd received a text. "Excuse me," Austin said politely as he got up and went to see the message whilst Ally finished her pancakes. Whilst he was in the bedroom he quickly got dressed and sprayed his cologne before looking at the message.

It was from Jimmy. It said: _"Hi Austin, listen we really need you to come in today. Have you thought any more about that song?"_

' _Oh shit,'_ Austin thought, _'I forgot about that.'_ He still was unsure. He loved the song but didn't want to record it without Ally's permission. He knew he had to talk to her about it. Putting his phone in his pocket, he walked back out into the kitchen.

"Oh, you've changed." Ally smiled, finishing up her pancakes. "Who was the message from?"

"My boss, Jimmy. Ally, can we talk?" He asked, nervous,

"Sure, what's up?" Austin walked over and helped her up, being conscious of her wrist still in its cast, and led her over to the couch in the other room.

She sat down and he sat down just next to her. "It's about the song." Austin began. "Jimmy wants to record it and release it as my first single, but we need it recorded by tomorrow. I didn't want to record it without asking you, since you co-wrote it."

"Austin, of course you can!" Ally replied, smiling and looking into his eyes. "It's your song, after all!"

"No, it's _our_ song." Austin corrected, smiling back. "This song is just as much yours as it is mine. I wouldn't have a song at all if it wasn't for you." Ally blushed. "So… it's okay if I use it?"

"Of course!" Ally giggled.

"Thank you Ally, thank you so much!" He exclaimed, wrapping her in an excited hug for a moment. But just for a moment. It wasn't a romantic, comforting hug like those of the night before, but one of joy and friendship. "I'd better go and call Jimmy." And with that he got up and walked through to the bedroom, pulling out his phone as he went.

Ally sat there in silence. She was shocked. She couldn't believe that one of her songs was actually going to be recorded and released! One of her songs! People would hear and admire her writing! Her dreams were finally coming true. And most of all, she was glad that, if anyone would be the one to sing it, it was Austin – that just made the whole thing better.

She could hear Austin's voice muffled in the other room, but she was too deep in thought and glee to notice when it stopped, and she jumped when Austin sat next to her, breaking her out of her trance. "You okay, Als?" He asked sweetly.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm great! I just can't believe you're going to be releasing my song!"

"And I can't tell you how much it means that you said yes! Without you, I wouldn't have a career."

"And without you, I wouldn't have a life." She said, barely above a whisper, gazing deep into his eyes. In them she could see adoration, caring and… no, surely it wasn't… love?

Before she could decide, Austin jumped up. "So, I need to go and get this song recorded right away." He said quickly. _'I guess that's my cue to leave, then.'_ Ally thought to herself. Austin turned to walk towards the door and hesitated, turning around. "D-do you want to come with me?"

"What?" Muttered Ally.

"Do you want to come to the studio with me to watch me record the song?"

"Oh, I-I-, uh, I wouldn't want to intrude on your session. I don't really know anything about it."

"Als, come on, you know better than anybody how the song is supposed to sound! I'd be much more confident singing it if you were there to see it." He encouraged. "Besides, I wouldn't feel right leaving you alone today, not after everything you went through yesterday." He was very careful about his words, they both knew it was a sensitive subject.

"Umm… well then… okay. I don't see why not." She returned his smile.

"Great! Sorry to hurry you, but we need to get over to the studio asap!" He slipped on his shoes and held his arm out for Ally, which she gratefully accepted.

They left his apartment and stopped by Ally's so she could get her black flats, before walking down the corridor to the elevator. They began walking, Austin keeping Ally close at his side, their arms interlocked. They continued down the street, and Austin could feel Ally start to tense up as they approached the scene of last night. It was clear she was having flashbacks so he pulled her in even closer and placed his hand over hers. He felt her relax slightly but she was clearly still on edge. As they walked past the alleyway, they both looked down it out of curiosity. The man had gone, clearly having woken up and staggered away, however there was a small blood patch on the ground where his head had been, obviously from the nose bleed he received when Austin was beating the crap out of him, defending Ally.

They both paused for a second, before Austin started to pull forward and they continued on their way. They soon arrived at the studio and walked in. Jimmy stood there beaming as Austin walked in. "Well well, it's the next big pop star here to record a single!" Austin beamed backed. "And who's this?" Jimmy asked kindly, seeing Ally with him.

"Hi, sir, I'm Ally, nice to meet you!" Ally spoke quickly; she couldn't believe she was meeting the owner of Starr Records!

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Ally. Please, call me Jimmy." He noticed the wrist cast and bruised face but chose to ignore them. He turned back to Austin. "I'm guessing this is the girl you wrote the song with?"

"You've… told him about me?" Ally said to Austin, thrilled but a little bit embarrassed.

"Maybe…" Austin returned her soft smile, also a little embarrassed.

"So I'm guessing you got over the whole problem with the other girl?" He asked, completely innocently. Both Austin and Ally immediately froze, realising they hadn't spoken to each other about that yet, too swept up in the chaos of the night before. Ally started to look a bit pale and sad, and Austin noticed this.

"Uh, Jimmy, could you please give us a moment?" Austin asked politely.

"Oh, yes, o-of course, I'm so sorry." Jimmy replied sheepishly, realising what he'd done and stepping quickly out of the room.

Austin turned to face Ally. "So… I guess this is our chance to, err… talk about it." Ally said nothing, a sad look on her face. "Listen, Ally, I never wanted to kiss Carrie. She barged into my apartment and practically jumped on me!" Austin spoke slowly, nervously, embarrassed, afraid.

Ally started to cry a little, single tears running gently down her face. "I just couldn't believe what I saw…" She said softly, not looking at him, tears still meandering down her face. "I thought you really cared about me, Austin."

"I _do_ really care about you!" Austin was firm but gentle. "The whole time Carrie was kissing me, it felt dirty and wrong, and I just wanted to get her off me! That's why I didn't have time to see how bad I looked when I opened the door to you."

"It hurt. A lot. I felt like an idiot, I lost all my self-respect, I sat at home crying and hoping it wasn't true, it couldn't be true!" The tears were slowly increasing, and Austin detected hints of anger in her voice.

"Als, I would never hurt you on purpose!" He maintained the same tone of voice.

"I'd never felt like that before, Austin. I've never been in a relationship. Yes I've had crushes on other guys in the past, but with you it was different! I really thought it was special!"

"Wait, you've never been in a relationship before?" She shook her head, tears still running and splashing gently onto the floor. "Had you… been kissed?" Austin was trying to be sensitive. She shook her head again after a short pause. "Oh my God Ally, so last night was…"

"Yep. That was my first kiss." She was properly crying now. Austin felt his heart stop as the events of last night got even more serious to him. "I wanted it to be so special, so perfect, and it was taken from me." She managed to stutter out in between sobs.

"So that night by the piano, that would have been it?" She nodded. "And you wanted it to happen then" Another nod.

Austin felt himself walk over to Ally, pull her close to him and lean in. "Let's see if I can make up for it." He whispered when they were close. And with that, they closed their eyes and Austin closed the gap between their lips, pressing his on hers gently. It felt like the whole world just stopped. It was magical. It was intense. Austin placed his hands on her hips, pulling her closer to him. Austin pulled away, looking deep into her eyes, contemplating what had just happened. Ally felt the same way. They stayed close together, neither of them knowing what to say. Austin had just opened his mouth to speak when they heard footsteps approaching the door.

Austin quickly moved away and Ally hastily wiped the tears off her face, though she had stopped crying when Austin kissed her. She was so overcome with emotions she didn't know what to do with herself, she just stood there with her thumbnail in her mouth and staring at the floor.

A second later Jimmy knocked gently on the door. "Come on in." Austin called out to him. The door opened and Jimmy strolled back in, rather embarrassed about having caused tension earlier.

"Are you two okay, then? Sorry I mentioned that earlier…" He stammered.

"Yeah, we're fine thanks…" Ally said quietly, still in shock.

"Okay then…" Jimmy replied. There was a short, awkward silence. "So, Austin, are you ready to record this song?"

"Uh yeah, I guess so." Austin shrugged and walked through the door into the soundproofed studio, taking his position behind the piano and putting on his headphones. Jimmy went and sat down by the soundboard, calling in a producer to come in and help monitor everything. He motioned to a spare seat next to them.

"Come and sit down, Ally." Jimmy offered gently, smiling. Ally accepted, returned his smile and sit in the swivel chair. She stared through the glass screen at Austin. He looked so handsome sat by the piano, in the zone.

After a moment and a cue from the producer, he started to play and to sing. Ally was mesmerised the whole way through the song, staring constantly at his beautiful features. When his eyes weren't closed as he got into the song, he was returning Ally's gaze. She could see the longing in his eyes. It was electric; they felt more connected than ever even though they were metres apart. When the song finished, they just smiled at each other softly.

"That was perfect, Austin!" The producer spoke into a little microphone.

The next few minutes were spent with Austin re-recording various parts and backing vocals, and before they knew it the song was finished. They played it through the speaker systems and it sounded absolutely _incredible_. Ally felt so proud, it was her song! Her song was playing!

When it finished, Austin left the sound booth and joined the others. He and Ally were smiling at each other, never breaking eye contact, for a while. "Well, we'll send this off tomorrow and get back to you when we know more details. For now, why don't you go and just chill out for a bit. Congratulations Austin, you've just recorded your first single." Jimmy was beaming from ear to ear, speaking excitedly but still gently.

They said goodbye and then Austin and Ally left the studio building. "Where next?" Asked Ally, and then her phone rang. She answered it and was talking for a few minutes. Austin didn't hear properly, he was just staring into her beautiful eyes. She hung up and turned to him. "My Dad wants me to come and see him at Sonic Boom." Ally explained. "He doesn't want me to work but he just wants to see me in person after last night." She spoke timidly. "Do you mind? You don't have to come with me if you don't want to…"

"No, no, of course I'll come!" Austin said quickly. And this time, rather than the usual offering of his arm, he instead presented his hand. She hesitated briefly, before accepting and intertwining their fingers as they started to walk towards the mall.

"Hi, Dad!" Ally called out as they walked through the doors of Sonic Boom, still holding hands. Lester ran over and swept Ally up in a big hug (needless to say the hand-holding had stopped at this point).

"Oh Ally, my baby, are you alright?" He whispered into her ear, starting to cry a little. Ally returned the hug and Austin stood watching on, finding the whole scene incredibly cute.

"Yeah, I'm fine Dad. I'm fine." Ally matched her Dad's voice.

Lester pulled away and gasped when he saw her face. He started to rub it gently. "Are you sure? I can't believe someone would ever does this to my daughter!"

"Dad, honestly, I'm fine." She reassured him, rubbing his other hand. "I'm just so lucky Austin turned up when he did." Her eyes started to well up too.

Lester turned to Austin, who was blushing and smiling to himself. He slowly walked over to Austin and gave him a hug too. This caught Austin off guard at first, and his face was very confused as he held his arms out to the side. Ally giggled at this. Austin then smiled and returned the hug. When Lester pulled back, he looked Austin straight in the eyes. "I know you've probably already heard this a thousand times. But thank you. You're a hero."

"I was just lucky to be there, I only did what anyone would have done. Not that heroic, really." He said modestly, blushing.

"No. You're a hero. If it weren't for you, my little girl would have been raped and who-knows-what-else. For that I will be forever thankful."

"You're very welcome, Lester. I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

They all talked for a few more minutes, not mentioning the kiss though. "Anyway, Dad, we'd better get going. You need to help the customers." Ally piped up, sweetly.

"Yeah, okay honey. Thank you again, Austin. Stay safe." And with that, Lester turned and went back to the counter and Austin and Ally walked out of the store. He offered his hand again and she accepted.

They walked back to his apartment and talked for a few hours about music and song-writing, enjoying each other's company. However, they sat on different sofas, not recreating the intimacy of earlier, as for some reason they both felt a little awkward about the kiss from earlier, even though neither of them regretted it. They both wanted to do it again but the timing just felt wrong.

At about 9pm Ally said "Well, I think I'd better get back to my apartment for the night."

"Are you sure you want to go back there tonight? You're more than welcome to stay here if you'd like." Austin offered, wanting her to feel safe and comfortable.

"Thanks, but I think I'll be okay tonight. I'll drop by and see you tomorrow, though, okay?"

"Sure thing." Austin smiled back at her. Ally gathered her things from the bedroom and Austin escorted her down the corridor to her front door.

"Thanks again Austin. For everything." She smiled up at him, her eyes twinkling.

"No problem Als. You feel like you need anything, _anything_ , tonight and you call me straight away, okay?"

"Yeah, I will. Goodnight, Austin." She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek before entering her apartment and closing the door, waving at him as she did so.

Lester called her a few minutes later, telling her that she could have the next day off work as well if she liked, he had managed to cope fine by himself today. Ally gratefully accepted his offer, as she'd already agreed to go and see Austin again. "Oh, and well done on finding Austin. He's a wonderful guy; make sure you don't lose him." Was how Lester finished the call before hanging up.

Ally smiled to herself. _'Yeah, he is pretty great.'_ She thought to herself.


	8. Chapter 8

Hey everyone, thanks for taking the time to read this story! Obviously, this is just how I've chosen to interpret the characters and they may not necessarily match up completely with those in the TV show.

This is a work in progress, so any feedback, comments and suggestions would be entirely welcome, as well as any suggestions for how you'd like to see the story progress.

Whoa, three chapters in one day?! Whooooo!

Thanks to everyone who's left a review so far! It means a lot to know that people are enjoying the story! I hope the rest of it doesn't disappoint

Obviously, I do not own Austin & Ally in any way, shape or form.

So without further ado, here's the story! I hope you enjoy…

 **Chapter Eight  
** **Turn on the Radio**

Ally was surprised with how well she slept that night. There were times when she felt lonely and a little afraid without the comforting warmth of Austin's arms, but she managed to get a good amount of sleep in. She woke up at 8 o'clock, feeling happy, glad that she had accepted her Dad's offer to have another day off work. As she was getting dressed, she realised that she still had the zip-up hoodie Austin had given her yesterday. _'Well, now I_ _ **have**_ _to go and see him.'_ She thought to herself giggling.

She decided on wearing a floral vest top with a silver zip-up hoodie and pale yellow jeans, wanting to look good for Austin yet still come across as casual. She didn't want to go over to Austin's just yet because she didn't know if he'd be up, so she called Trish. She hadn't spoken to her since the assault and decided that she definitely needed to know.

T: **Hey A, what's up? Haven't heard from you in a while!**

A: _Hi Trish, I have something really important to tell you._

T: **Okay, what is it?**

Ally took a deep breath before speaking.

A: _I was assaulted on Wednesday night._

Trish froze and there was complete silence for a few seconds.

A: _Hello? Trish?_

T: **I'm here, Als, I'm here… I'm just in shock…**

A few more seconds of silence.

T: **Are you okay, Ally?**

A: _Yeah, I'm fine. He never actually got to rape me but my wrist is broken and my face is a bit bruised._

T: **Oh my God, Ally, why didn't you call me sooner?**

A: _I'm sorry Trish, I guess I've only just really come to terms with it myself, I tried not to think about it yesterday._

T: **So what happened, Al? That is, if you don't mind…**

A: _No, it's fine. Well I was just walking back to my apartment from Sonic Boom. One minute I'm walking along quite happily, and the next some guy's grabbed my arm and pulled me into some alleyway. He just started kissing me…_

T: **He kissed you? Oh my God, that means…**

A: _Yes, Trish. He stole my first kiss. He's kissing me and slapping me whenever I make a noise. Next thing, I'm on the floor and he's undoing my pants, and then all of a sudden I feel him get tackled off me._

T: **Who saved you?**

A: _You'll never believe it, but it was Austin! He saved my life. He beat this guy up pretty bad, then he helped me up and hugged me tight. I've never been happier to see anyone._

T: **I knew he was a good guy, Als! I knew it. Austin really cares about you.**

A _: I know, I know, he's my hero. He took me to the hospital and they put my wrist in a cast. I stayed at Austin's that night so that he knew I was okay._

T: **This is so sweet! Anything else?**

A: _Well yesterday Austin recorded the song we wrote, and he asked me to go to the studio with him. And… he kissed me._

Ally heard Trish squealing excitedly from the other end of the phone.

T: **OH MY GOD ALLY! YOUR FIRST PROPER, PROPER KISS!**

A: _I know, it was incredible!_

T: **So are you two like together now?**

A: _What? No, no. We haven't kissed since, but I did kiss him on the cheek when I said goodbye last night and my Dad gave him a hug when we went to see him._

T: **Do you want to meet up today? I just want to give you a big hug after all you've been through.**

A: _Sure, I'll tell you when I'm free in a bit. I'm going over to Austin's soon, I forgot to give him his jacket back._

T: **His jacket?**

A: _Oh, yeah, he gave me his jacket yesterday cos I was cold._

T: **Well how kind. She giggled.**

A: _I know. I'll talk later Trish._

T: **Okay, Als, see you then.**

Ally was glad Trish knew everything - she was her best friend after all. Trish had always been there for Ally's problems, ever since they first became friends right back in kindergarten. She was happy to know that she had someone she could always talk to and rely on, although she was quickly starting to feel this way about Austin too.

Speaking of Austin, she still thought it was a little too early to head over to his, so she sat down and read a few chapters of her book. She couldn't concentrate, however, she just couldn't stop thinking about Austin. Eventually, she gave up trying and put the book away. She grabbed her phone and Austin's jacket, put on her shoes and walked over to his, hoping she wasn't too early.

She knocked lightly on the door. A few seconds later, it swung open to reveal Austin smiling down at her. "Morning Ally, you look beautiful as ever." He said sweetly. "Come on in."

She walked in, he shut the door behind her and they walked through to his living room. Turning to him, Ally held out the zip-up hoodie. "I forgot to give you this back yesterday." She said sweetly, smiling at him.

"Oh, thanks I forgot about that." He gently took it from her and went and put it in his bedroom. Returning into the lounge, he offered her a drink and got her a glass of water, like she requested. They then went and sat on the sofa and started talking again.

"So, Austin, why did you move here from Seattle?" Ally asked, intrigued.

"Seattle?" Austin replied, confused.

"Yes. You moved here from Seattle, didn't you? We talked about this a while ago, but I've forgotten what you said already."

"Oh, yeah, Seattle, I uh, I… I didn't really move here from Seattle." He confessed, looking down at the floor, embarrassed and blushing?

"What?" Ally was amused, giggling. "Well you haven't lived here your whole life or I probably would have seen you at some point before, so where have you moved from?"

"Orlando."

"So why did you lie to me and say you moved from Seattle?" Ally found this hysterical, contrary to Austin's expectations that she'd be mad that he lied.

"Well it was cold, and I offered you my jacket. You told me I'd get cold, so to look… you know… tough, I decided to tell you I was from Seattle, so I wouldn't be cold…"

Ally burst out laughing. "You're such a dork sometimes, I couldn't care less where you came from! The point was you were very sweet by offering me your jacket."

Austin looked at her and they shared a smile. Austin was falling for her more and more by the minute. She was so cute when she laughed, her little, still bruised face scrunching up as she did. He was also glad to see that the bruise was slowly starting to fade, although it was still clearly visible.

"Ally, I want you to know something." He began sincerely. "Even if the song is a complete flop and no-one likes it, which I'm sure won't happen, I just want to say thank you again. I had such a good time writing it, and I was wondering if you wanted to write more with me."

"Of course I would, Austin! I loved writing it too!" She replied, beaming at him. "I think we make a pretty good team."

"I agree. Shall we start on one now?"

"I don't see why not, where are your instruments and stuff?"

Austin led Ally through to a room with a big window. You could see the ocean from there! It was January, so it was quite grey outside, but Ally could imagine in the summer that it would be the most beautiful view. In the room was a guitar, a piano (not quite as nice as the one at Sonic Boom but still pretty good), a bass guitar and a drum kit.

"I have it all in here because in the summer I think the view will be really inspiring for music." Austin said humbly. "Pretty, right?"

"Wow, it certainly is!" Ally was stunned.

"Almost as pretty as you." Austin said under his breath, Ally only just heard it. She blushed but had her back to him so he couldn't see.

"So, Austin, any ideas for the song?" Ally quickly changed the subject in an attempt to hide her embarrassment.

"Uh no, not really. But I was thinking since the last one was quite a slow song maybe we could try something a bit more upbeat?"

"Yeah, definitely. Maybe something like this?" She said, sitting down at the piano and improvising a few chords in a major key.

"Ooh, that sounds great! Hang on, keep playing that sequence." He said, moving over and picking up the acoustic guitar and adding a melody to the chord pattern.

And so they were off, writing another beautiful song together. Time flew by, as it did the last time they wrote a song together, and they completely got lost in the song, just making it better and better with every change they made. They were about halfway through the song and loving every last moment of it, but they decided they needed to take a small break. Austin pulled out his phone to check the time, and realised that they had been working on the song for nearly 5 hours straight!

They walked out into the kitchen and Ally looked on her phone, seeing a message from Trish, that read _'Hey Als, are you gonna be able to meet up later this afternoon, I don't really have anything to do.'_ Much as Ally would have loved to meet up with Trish, she really just wanted to keep working at the song as she was really happy with how it was going.

' _Hi Trish, sorry but I got kinda distracted, I'm a bit busy working on a song with Austin atm. Sorry, maybe we could meet on Sunday?'_ Ally replied. She felt bad for turning Trish down after she had been there for her earlier, but she knew that Trish wouldn't really mind as it was nothing majorly important and there would be plenty of other chances. She was right, as she soon received a reply. _'That's fine Al, no problem. Have fun writing with Austin!'_

The pair sat back on the sofa and made light discussion, both of them trying to think of something other than the song for a while, when Austin's phone rang on the counter. He got up and answered it, to hear Jimmy on the other end.

A: _Hey Jimmy, what's up?_

J: **Hi Austin, what you up to?**

A: _Funny you should call actually, Ally and I are just working on another song._

J: **Good, good, we need all the songs we can get! But, I have some rather exciting news.**

A: _Oh yeah, what's that?_

J: **Turn on your radio to the local station. I'll call you back in a few minutes.** And he instantly hung up, not even giving Austin a chance to respond.

"Okay…" Austin said as he put the phone back down.

"What did Jimmy want?" Ally asked, looking up from her own phone for a second.

"He told me to turn on the local radio station…" Austin said slowly, confused by the situation.

"Well then what are you waiting for?" Giggled Ally. Austin quickly walked over and turned on his radio to hear the presenter say: _'And here is the new song by the new kid on the block, Austin Moon.'_

"WHAT!?" Austin and Ally both called out at the same time. Then they heard the opening to their ballad playing through the radio. They looked at each other, then back at the radio, then back at each other again. It was their song. Playing on the radio for everyone to hear, and hopefully love as much as they did! Ally walked up behind Austin and put her hands and head on his shoulder as the song played.

"You sound so good, Austin." She said. "Not that you don't sound good in person, of course, I just meant that you…" She tried to cover herself, realising the mistake she'd made. Austin just chuckled.

"Nice save, Als." He said quietly, turning to face her so that her hands now rested on his chest. He smiled down at him, and she could see caring in his eyes. "This is all because of you." He said softly, before he started to quietly sing along to the song, looking deep into Ally's eyes. A few seconds later she joined in, their voices perfectly harmonising and matching the sounds coming from the radio. It was like heaven.

The song ended, and Ally's hands were still on Austin's chest as they stared into each other's eyes. Austin felt himself leaning in, and before either of them knew what was happening they were kissing again. This kiss was different to the one in the studio, though. This felt more romantic, emotional and more natural. He hooked his arms around her waist and she moved hers so they were looped around his neck as she returned the kiss. Austin felt more confident this time than he had the last time, so he opened his lips slightly, causing hers to do the same with no resistance. He slipped his tongue in, and the kiss deepened. The last time Ally had done this had been during the assault, but that thought was a million miles away from her at that moment as she got lost in the kiss she was having. The kiss lasted for about 30 seconds before Austin pulled away, re-opening his eyes and staring deep into hers affectionately.

Like the last time, neither of them quite knew what to say, but Austin decided to break the silence. "You are _so_ beautiful." He said quietly, their foreheads still touching and arms around each other. She blushed a little and he felt the heat of it against his skin. He decided to go for broke, and asked something he'd wanted to ask since the moment he met her. "Ally Dawson, will you be my girlfriend?"

Ally's eyes shot open wide and her jaw dropped. Her forehead left his but she remained in the embrace. She couldn't believe it! The most handsome man she'd ever met was asking her, Ally, someone who'd never had any love in life, to be his girlfriend! When she hadn't responded in about 10 seconds, Austin began to panic that he shouldn't have said it, convinced he was about to turn her down. Ally saw the worry in his eyes and realised she'd been silent.

"Austin…" She began. _'Here we go,'_ thought Austin, _'time to have my spirit crushed.'_ He braced himself for the bad news. "Of _course_ I'll be your girlfriend!" She replied quietly and kissed him again. Now it was Austin's turn to be in shock! He returned her kiss passionately, so relieved and thankful that the girl of his dreams had said yes to him! They were getting back into the kiss when Austin's phone rang again, bringing them back to reality.

Austin had forgotten Jimmy had said he'd ring back, so he reluctantly pulled away from Ally, turned off the radio and walked over to answer his phone.

J: **So, what'd you think Austin?**

A: _I-, w-, y-, I can't e- Austin was speechless._

Jimmy chuckled.

J: **I thought that would be your reaction. But your song's gone viral already. People are loving it!**

A: _That's so great, I can't believe this is happening._

J: **Well believe it, kiddo, it's happening! And I have one more surprise. Guess who's appearing live on the Helen Show on Sunday!**

A: _I don't know, Katy Perry?_ Austin asked, genuinely clueless. Jimmy burst out laughing, amazed at how dumb Austin could be sometimes.

J: **No, you knucklehead, it's you!** He was still laughing hard.

A: _Me? Wha- Are you serious?_

J: **Yes! You are performing live on the Helen show on Sunday morning and then she'll give you a quick interview. You are going places, Austin!**

A: _I- Thank you so much, Jimmy, I can't believe it!_

J: **Just doing my job, Austin! Now you go celebrate, I'll text you details tomorrow!** And he hung up. Jimmy wasn't really one for long goodbyes.

Austin put down the phone and turned slowly to Ally. "So!? What did he say!?" Ally exclaimed, excitedly.

"I'm going on the Helen Show on Sunday. I'm performing our song live!" He said quietly, still not quite believing it himself.

"What? That's brilliant!" Ally enthused as she ran over and gave Austin a big hug. "I'm so proud of you!"

"I can't believe it, Al. My dreams are coming true. And it's all thanks to you." He gave her a quick peck on the lips. "You know what? Let's go finish that song!" He said with a sudden burst of enthusiasm and dragged her off to the music room.

A few hours later, thanks to Austin's sudden burst of motivation, the song was finished, and they loved it almost as much as their first one, although that was special to them and could never be replaced. They hugged romantically when they'd finished and decided to return to the couch and sit down for a bit. Austin flicked on the TV to the local news and they cuddled up. They weren't dully listening, both thinking about the song they'd just finished, until they heard something a few minutes later that captured their attention. The newsreader on the television announced: _"And our next story: Swoon for Mr Moon."_ They were both confused at first – surely they couldn't be referring to Austin. Right? Wrong.

" _A brand new pop star has suddenly burst his way into the spotlight, with a single released earlier today that has already sold over 200,000 copies. Here's a quick section of it."_ They couldn't believe it when the chorus to their song started playing and a picture of Austin appeared on the screen! The music stopped after a couple of lines. _"Austin Moon, aged 23, is a Miami resident signed with Starr Records. This is his first release with the label and the song has already reached the Top 10 in the national charts."_ This just kept getting weirder and weirder for the couple. Top 10? Already? They recorded it yesterday!

They looked at each other, completely in shock, before they both cracked huge smiles. "Our song is Top 10!" They exclaimed together, embracing into a hug!

They watched the news story several times over, still not believing what was happening. Eventually it started to sink in, but it was already starting to get late, and neither of them were really in the mood for partying. "I think I'd better get back to my apartment." Ally said as she lay next to Austin with her head and a hand on his chest.

"Okay Als. You can stay the night here if you want to." He offered.

"No thanks, I'd love to but I need to be up early for work tomorrow." Ally replied, standing up and walking to the door. Austin followed her and walked her down the corridor to her apartment. Stood outside, he leant down and embraced her in a big hug and a kiss for a few seconds, before moving back and smiling at her. She gave him her usual wave as she closed the door, and they both slept that night the soundest they had for a long time, neither of them quite believing everything that had happened.

It was official: Ally had her first boyfriend.


	9. Chapter 9

Hey everyone, thanks for taking the time to read this story! Obviously, this is just how I've chosen to interpret the characters and they may not necessarily match up completely with those in the TV show.

This is a work in progress, so any feedback, comments and suggestions would be entirely welcome, as well as any suggestions for how you'd like to see the story progress.

Thanks to everyone who's left a review so far! It means a lot to know that people are enjoying the story! I hope the rest of it doesn't disappoint

Obviously, I do not own Austin & Ally in any way, shape or form.

So without further ado, here's the story! I hope you enjoy…

 **Chapter Nine  
** **Walking and Talking**

Ally didn't want to get up for work on Saturday morning, but she knew she had to. She'd already had two days off and weekends were always busier, so as much as he may have tried to deny it, Lester really would need her help. But all Ally wanted to do was go and see and cuddle up with her new boyfriend. _Boyfriend –_ she still hadn't got used to that!

Ally did her usual morning routine and headed out to Sonic Boom. This was her first time walking alone through the streets without Austin since the assault, and she felt lonely without his big, strong arms holding her close to him. However, Ally tried to push Austin out of her head for a while, because she had to make sure she wasn't distracted while she was at work.

Well, that plan didn't work because every two minutes she found herself checking her phone to see if he'd left her a message. When she hadn't received anything by the time she got to Sonic Boom, she just assumed he was still in bed.

She was right – Austin had decided to have a lie-in (as he did most mornings, really). In the past 24 hours his life had gotten a million times better – he had heard his song on the radio, he had seen himself on the _news_ as a new star, he was going to appear live on The Helen Show and perform his song! But most of all, the girl he loved was now his girlfriend. He lay in bed smiling to himself, and was going to send her a message to invite her round to his, when he remembered she was at work.

He decided he may as well get up anyway, and did his routine of pancakes, shower, teeth, dressed. He found himself walking over to his instruments. He sat down at the piano and played the song they had written yesterday, but knowing it was not the same without Ally playing it with him. He got up and walked through to his bedroom to get his phone and send her a cute message.

Ally was standing behind the counter, happily helping customers. It wasn't too busy, but Ally was still glad she'd decided to go into work, as much as she wanted to be with Austin. Lester could see that she wasn't entirely focused. "What's up, hon?" He asked gently.

"Hmm? Wha- Oh- fine, I'm fine." Ally said quickly, embarrassed. She had decided not to tell her Dad about her and Austin, she just thought it would be too awkward, but they'd agreed they wouldn't be completely secret about it either. Ally was going to tell Trish but hadn't had a chance yet.

Lester could tell when something was up with Ally but this time he could tell it wasn't something Ally was going to talk about, so he just gave her a slow nod and they both got back to work. Ally felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and pulled out her phone to check it. It was from Austin. The message said _'Not the same playing this song without you. Miss you loads xxx'_ Ally blushed and her legs nearly gave way as she felt all tingly knowing that he missed her as much as she missed him. She quickly replied _'Miss you too, but it's busy today. You can walk me home if you want, though? I get off work at 8:30 xxx'_ before putting the phone back into her pocket.

During the day a few customers gave her weird and concerned looks when they saw her wrist cast and slowly fading bruised face. This made her feel a little uncomfortable and embarrassed, but thankfully none of them actually asked her about it.

The rest of the day passed relatively quickly for Ally, in a blur of customers and thoughts about Austin and his dreamy face.

At around midday, Austin heard a knock on his door. For a second his heart leapt slightly in the hope that it was Ally, but then he realised Ally would _never_ leave work early, unless told to by her Dad. He strolled casually over to the door and opened it, revealing Piper. He'd met her once before when she knocked on his apartment door shortly after he moved in. She seemed like a nice enough girl to him.

"Hi, Piper." Austin said slowly. "How can I help you?"

"Hey Austin!" She said excitedly, giving him a little wave. Austin found himself thinking back to how Carrie had barged her way in and jumped on him, and hoped desperately that Piper wasn't going to try a similar thing. "I just wanted to say I heard your song on the radio, and you are incredible!" She was beaming up at him.

"Oh thanks Piper, glad you liked it." He smiled meekly back at her. There was a few seconds of awkward silence. "Is there… anything else?" Austin asked, hoping there wouldn't be.

"Umm… A-Austin, I have feelings for you, and I have since the moment we met." Piper began shyly, looking down at the ground as she spoke. Austin's heart stopped and he just stared at her in shock. "I just think you're really handsome and sweet and clearly you're also so talented." She continued, still not looking at his face, meaning she couldn't see the shocked expression on his face.

Austin didn't know what to say. He was flattered, but he felt sorry for Piper. It had clearly taken quite a lot of courage for her to confess her feelings to him, and he felt awful that he would have to turn her down because she really did seem nice. "Piper, I-" She looked up at him at this point. "I really am flattered, and you seem to be such a sweet girl too, bu…" He was cut off by Piper leaping into his arms, giggling enthusiastically as she hugged him tight.

"So that's a yes, then?" Piper said excitedly as she pulled away from the hug, looking around.

"Piper, wait, I hadn't finished." Austin said, surprised by what had happened. He saw Piper's face drop slightly but she still looked hopeful. "You seem lovely, _but_ … I already have a girlfriend." Piper's face completely changed and she looked instantly on the verge of tears, hurt in her eyes.

"Oh…" She muttered quietly. "Of course you do."

"I'm sorry Piper, you really are sweet, and I know that there's someone else who's perfect for you, but it's just not me."

"No, it _is_ you." Piper said defiantly but softly. "You're just taken. I get it." She really did look like she was about to cry. "Sorry to bother you, Austin. I'll see you around. Bye." And with that she walked off slowly down the corridor, head down. Austin could see her shoulders shaking slightly, he could tell she was crying.

Going back into his apartment and closing the door, Austin felt awful. He felt so sorry for poor Piper, but he knew he'd done the right thing and felt better when he thought about Ally and how much he loved her.

Austin couldn't stop thinking about Ally all day, and he just had to write something. Austin was never quite so good at creating tunes and melodies, although he wasn't terrible either. He really came into his own on the lyric front; that was definitely his speciality. He found himself just writing lyrics about how he couldn't get Ally out of his head, but without a good melody to go with them.

Meanwhile at Sonic Boom, business was quieter in the afternoon, and Ally found herself humming a tune that had suddenly popped into her head. She quickly picked up a guitar and played it before it left her head. She kept playing it over and over until she was certain she wouldn't forget it before she had a chance to speak to Austin about it.

Eventually 8:30 rolled around and Ally started to gather her things together, just as Austin entered the shop. Quickly glancing round and seeing that Lester wasn't in the room, she quickly ran over and gave Austin a quick kiss. She pulled back and grabbed her phone out of her bag, to look natural, and just after Lester walked back out of the back room. "Hi Austin," He said with a smile. "what are you doing here?"

"I just thought Ally might like some company on the walk home." Austin said gently, returning the smile.

"I'm going now then, is that okay Dad?" Ally asked sweetly.

"Yeah that's fine. Remember it's Sunday tomorrow so the shop's closed." Lester replied.

"Yeah I will. Thanks Dad." Ally gave him a quick peck on the cheek before turning to walk out the door.

"Have a good evening, Mr Dawson." Austin said politely, before turning to follow Ally.

Once they were outside the mall, Austin instantly stopped them and brought Ally up into a big hug. "I've been waiting to do this all day." He said huskily, before kissing her passionately. She felt herself melt in his arms, as she wrapped hers around his neck and returned the kiss. "I missed you today." He whispered in her ear when they broke the kiss.

"I missed you too." Ally whispered back, before they broke the hug too and intertwined their hands before they started to walk back down the road hand in hand.

"I got details from Jimmy about The Helen Show tomorrow." Austin said as they walked.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. The show's live tomorrow, it starts at 9 a.m. and I perform at 9:45. I'd bring you along with me but Jimmy said I can't, even though you're the co-writer of the song. Sorry babe." He said, looking at her apologetically.

"Don't worry about it, I know things are gonna be a bit hectic for you. But don't worry, I'll of course still be watching from home." Ally reassured him, smiling brightly at him.

"You'd better be!" Austin laughed with a smirk.

"Ooh, I know!" Ally said excitedly as an idea popped into her head. "I'll invite Trish and my Dad round to my apartment and we'll all watch it together! Neither of them have heard the song yet I don't think."

"Yeah, you could do that. Have you told either of them about us yet?" He asked, a little nervous.

"No, not yet. That's why I ran and kissed you in Sonic Boom whilst my Dad wasn't there," She explained, blushing a little. "and I haven't really had a chance to speak to Trish since before I went to yours yesterday. I feel like she should know, though." She sounded a little nervous.

"Then why don't you tell her now?" Austin said, pulling her phone out of her pocket.

"Do you think I should?"

"I'm not gonna pressurise you into telling anyone before you want to, but you did just say you think she should know. I don't mind you calling her now."

"Okay then. Thanks, Aus." She dialled Trish's number, and after a few rings she picked up.

T: **Hi Ally, how's it going?**

A: _Hey Trish. Big news._

T: **What's going on?** She asked excitedly.

A: _I… uh, me an-, I ju…_ Ally stuttered, speaking slowly, not knowing how to say it. Austin chuckled at how cute Ally was when she was embarrassed.

T: **Is that Austin I heard chuckling?**

A: _Yeah, that's Austin. He's walking me home from Sonic Boom._

T: **Ally, that's sweet and all, but don't try and change the subject! What's your news?**

A: _Umm… She took a deep breath. Austin's my boyfriend now._

There was silence from the other end for a couple of seconds, before Ally heard the familiar sound of Trish's excited high-pitched squeak.

T: **Eeeeeep! Oh my God! When!? Where!? How!?**

A: _Calm down, T!_ She said giggling. _It was yesterday, you know I messaged you saying I was working on that song with Austin?_

T: **Oh yeah, how did that go by the way?**

A: _Oh, it was great! Anyway, he got this phone call from his manager telling him to turn on the radio, and we did and his song was playing! And we sang along to it and then…_

T: **And then? Do** _ **not**_ **keep me in suspense, girl!**

Austin laughed at how Ally had gotten embarrassed and leaned over to speak into the mouthpiece of her phone. "We kissed!" He said, loud enough so that Trish would hear. She definitely heard!

T: **He kissed you? Awww!**

A: _Yeah, thanks Austin._ She said sarcastically, giggling at him _. And then he just asked me to be his girlfriend._

T: **Aww Ally I'm so happy for you!**

A: _Thanks, but there's more! Austin's going live on The Helen Show tomorrow morning!_

T: **The Helen Show!? Oh my God I love Helen!**

A: _So I was wondering if you and my Dad wanted to come round to my apartment and watch it with me?_

T: **Yes yes yes yes! Absolutely! I'll** _ **be**_ **there!**

A: _Great, get to mine for 9 a.m. tomorrow morning._

T: **Perfect!**

A: _Oh, and one more thing. My Dad doesn't know about me and Austin yet, so please don't spill anything to him about us? Okay?_

T: **Of course, Als, I won't say a word. See you tomorrow!**

A: _Bye Trish._

"Well, that seemed to go well." Austin smiled at Ally as they continued walking. "Thank you, for telling Trish. I'm glad that your best friend knows." He leaned in and kissed her on the forehead.

"Yeah, same. It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders." Ally smiled back it him.

There was comfortable silence for a few second as they walked hand in hand, before a sudden thought entered Austin's mind. "I want you to know, you're the first girl who's ever made me feel this attached to them this quickly."

"What do you mean?" Ally asked confused.

"You're just always in my mind. I think about you all the time, whether I'm with you or not. I think about how pretty you are, how sweet and kind you are, how talented you are. But most of all, I think about how lucky I am to have met you, that night in Starbucks." His voice softened. "That was by far the best coffee I have ever bought." He said, chuckling slightly. "For once, my clumsiness did good. I got the perfect girlfriend out of it." He was still smiling, blushing and even more so when Ally started blushing too.

"You're not so bad yourself, Austin." She replied, smiling too. "You're by a long way the most handsome man I've ever met, you're caring, you're more talented than me, and you're the first person to ever make me feel truly happy. Before I met you, I thought I was completely happy and that I didn't need anything else to make me happier. I was wrong. You've made me _so_ happy, you _saved my life_. I can _never_ repay you for that."

"Well, I know one thing you can do." He said, stopping and turning to face her. "You can keep making me happy just by being here with me." He smiled and drew her up into a kiss. He wanted to tell her that he loved her, but again the timing just didn't feel right, so instead he just kept kissing her. Ally normally hated public displays of affection, but at that moment, with Austin, she didn't care and just enjoyed the moment.

They stopped, looked into each other's eyes and just smiled, before carrying on walking. They soon reached Aqua Plaza and took the lift up to their floor. He walked Ally to her door. "I'll call you as soon as I'm off The Helen Show, okay?" He smiled at her.

"I'll be waiting." She said with a grin. "Goodnight Austin." He leaned in and gave her a long, slow romantic kiss. Not a passionate, desire-filled one like those outside the mall and in the street, but one of emotion and caring.

"Night Ally. Sleep well." He said quietly as they separated, before walking down the corridor to his apartment.

 **A/N: Sorry this chapter is a little shorter than normal, I don't have much time to write this weekend. I'll try and update tomorrow if I can, but it should be back to one chapter per day during the week (maybe two, it depends). Thanks for the continued support and for reading, and I'll see you in the next chapter! As ever,** _ **all**_ **comments and suggestions are welcome! If you have a plot line or a way you want the story to go,** _ **tell me**_ **otherwise there is no chance of it ever happening!**


	10. Chapter 10

Hey everyone, thanks for taking the time to read this story! Obviously, this is just how I've chosen to interpret the characters and they may not necessarily match up completely with those in the TV show.

This is a work in progress, so any feedback, comments and suggestions would be entirely welcome, as well as any suggestions for how you'd like to see the story progress.

Thanks to everyone who's left a review so far! It means a lot to know that people are enjoying the story! I hope the rest of it doesn't disappoint Can't believe we're at Chapter 10 already, it feels like I started writing this series yesterday!

Obviously, I do not own Austin & Ally in any way, shape or form.

So without further ado, here's the story! I hope you enjoy…

 **Chapter Ten  
** **The Helen Show**

It was a restless night for Austin. He was so anxious about appearing on The Helen Show, his dream of being a famous rock star was finally starting to become reality, and it was all so surreal! He was up almost all night, tossing and turning, getting out of bed, getting back into bed. At one point he considered calling Ally and just talking to her to help calm him down, but he knew she'd be asleep and probably wouldn't be thrilled with him calling at 1:30 a.m.

Knowing he had to be up early to get to the show on time, Austin tried absolutely _everything_ to try and get to sleep, but he just didn't feel tired. He sank back in bed, turning over for the millionth time that night, and just closed his eyes. But his brain refused to switch off. He just kept thinking about going to sleep, but he couldn't sleep because he was thinking! _**(A/N: That made no sense did it? Oh well.)**_

Eventually, Austin finally fell asleep, imagining Ally's voice singing a soothing lullaby. Thinking about her always made him feel calmer, happier and more relaxed, and he had never been so thankful of this than that night.

*snore*

*snore*

*snore*

* _BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*_

Austin's alarm clock went off. He picked it up and looked at it. 6 o'clock. ' _Ugh, why do I have to be up so early to go to this stupid show?'_ He thought to himself. _'Oh well, price of fame I guess.'_ He stumbled around his apartment getting ready – it was 6 a.m., he hadn't slept much and it was Austin, who wasn't really a morning person anyway. He threw himself into the shower in an attempt to wake himself up more, but apparently the hot water makes you feel even more tired, as Austin discovered. Realising this, he quickly changed to cold water. BIG mistake! He squealed and jumped away as the cold water hit his body, slipping over in the process and falling onto his back. It didn't really hurt, but it was a shock when the cold water continued to fall on him, making him squeal even more. It did the trick though – he felt way more awake!

At 6:45 Austin left his apartment and took the lift into the lobby, where Jimmy was waiting for him. "Morning Austin, it's the big day! How do you feel?"

"I feel great. I can't believe this is actually happening to me!" Austin beamed at him, talking quickly.

"Well it's happening, you've earnt it Austin. You're gonna be great out there today." Jimmy reassured him.

They got into the car, a black Mercedes with blacked out windows, and were driven to the Helen studio on the outskirts of town, getting there by 7:30. Austin stepped out into the cold of the early February Miami morning, admiring the sunrise for a few seconds before turning to look at the large TV studio building. "This is it." He whispered to himself slowly before following Jimmy and a few associates inside.

Austin was shown to a very large, spacious dressing room complete with a sofa, widescreen TV and mini-fridge along with the normal make-up table and a modern en-suite bathroom. He gasped as he walked in – this dressing room was nicer than his entire apartment! He was told he could settle in and relax for a while, and would be collected in about 20 minutes time for his sound check. Austin nodded and thanked the producer as she left him, closing the door as she left.

He instantly pulled out his phone and texted Ally a picture of his dressing room. The message read _'Morning Ally, hope you slept well. Just got to The Helen Show, this is my dressing room! Isn't it great? Hope you enjoy the show, I miss you loads. Xxxx'_ He looked around the room in awe, wanting to save every memory of this amazing room. Austin sat on the sofa (which was the most comfortable sofa he'd ever sat on) and flicked through his social media for about 15 minutes, before deciding to do some very light vocal exercises to warm his voice up for the sound check.

The sound check went perfectly, and everything was set up ready for his performance in just over an hour's time. Austin was sent through the normal process of wardrobe, hair and make-up and by 9:10 he was ready, giving him 25 minutes to calm down before he had to go backstage and get into position.

Strangely, although he'd not been nervous at all for the entire day, he suddenly felt more and more butterflies in his stomach as time went by. 5 minutes felt like half an hour and he started to panic a bit about his performance…

Meanwhile, back at Aqua Plaza, Ally had woken up at 8:00. She saw the message from Austin and it made her smile and her heart fluttered, but she decided not to reply as she knew he'd be busy getting ready. Trish arrived at 8:50 and Lester was not far behind, and at 9:00 they turned on the TV and flicked to the correct channel, just as Helen herself popped onto the screen.

"Hello everybody how are you feeling today?" Helen asked enthusiastically to her audience, and received cheers and clapping in response, plus smiling from Ally, Trish and Lester on Ally's couch. "We have got a big show lined up today!" Helen went on to mention the main guests, who were these actors from some new movie Ally had never heard of. "Plus, we have new pop star _Austin Moon_ performing live on the show everybody!" At this Ally, Trish and Lester cheered with the audience, and Ally had never felt so proud.

And so the show began in its usual relaxed, fun way as it always did. About 15 minutes in, Ally's phone started to ring. It was Austin, calling her to help calm his nerves.

Al: _Hello?_

Au: **Als, I can't do it, I can't.**

Al: _Wait, what?_

Au: **Ally this is too much pressure, I can't do it.**

Al: _Austin, calm down, you're gonna be great!_

Au: **No I won't, I've never been nervous about performing before, why's it happening now?**

Al: _I get it, Aus, this is a big day for you, and it's okay for you to be nervous, really it is._

Au: **I just know I'm gonna mess up, I'm gonna let you down Ally.**

Al: _Stop right there, Austin. Listen to me, you could never let me down, okay? I am so incredibly proud of you, your dreams are finally coming true! This is your chance, just go for it!_

Ally could hear him relax after she'd said this.

Au: **Thanks Al, I just want everything to be perfect.**

Al: _It will be, Austin, I know it will be. Just imagine you're still sat with me in the back room at Sonic Boom, like we were that night when we wrote it, and you'll be amazing. You're always amazing._

Au: **Okay, Ally. I'll be thinking of you when I sing the song, I wouldn't be doing it without you.**

Al: _Knock 'em dead, I'm so proud of you._

Au: **I'll speak to you after the show. Bye Als.**

Ally hung up the phone and returned to her seat on the couch, and Austin turned on his TV. He put it onto The Helen Show, it was so surreal to him that he was watching the show he was about to be performing live on! He had always loved the show, Helen's presenting style was so laidback and informal, and she always seemed to make sure the guests felt at home and had fun.

Finally the big moment arrived. There was a sharp knock at the dressing room door and Austin instantly switched the TV off, jumped up from the sofa and strolled confidently over to the door. As he opened it, the same nice producer from earlier met him. "Are you ready, Mr Moon?" She asked sweetly, smiling at him.

"Ready as I'll ever be, I guess." Austin replied cheerily. "And please, call me Austin."

"Okay, Austin, if you'd like to follow me?" She lead him backstage and he got into position at the piano behind the screens that would open to reveal him before he began to play. The producer made a final microphone check and a make-up artist ran on to quickly give him a small touch-up, as did the hairdresser.

It was his big moment.

Austin heard Helen's cheery voice call out: "And now, here to perform his new hit single, it's the incredible Austin Moon!" He couldn't believe it as he heard the audience cheer loudly for him as the screens began to slowly slide back, revealing the audience to him. At home, all three of them sat mesmerised as they saw him on screen.

Austin took a deep breath and began to play the song which he knew so well, loved so well. The performance passed in a bit of a blur to Austin, he wasn't really thinking straight, he could only focus on thinking about Ally and how special she was to him.

In her apartment, Ally was on the verge of tears for the whole thing, feeling so overwhelmed that her boyfriend was performing live on national TV with a song that she had co-wrote. It was magical. It was beautiful. He got every note just right and his voice sounded gorgeous.

It was perfect.

Austin never wanted it to end, he loved knowing that people were enjoying his song and he loved even more that he was singing about Ally.

After the song finished, there was a split second of silence. For the tiniest moment, you could have heard a pin drop. It was enchanting. And then it hit him: this incredible wall of noise as everyone in the audience started clapping and cheering and standing up – Austin got a standing ovation on his first ever live TV performance! But no-one was cheering anywhere near as loud as Ally, Trish and Lester were back at her apartment. In fact, Austin could almost hear her from the studio, as far away as it was.

The applause lasted for around a minute. Austin never wanted it to end, it was the best moment of his life so far as he stood their taking a bow. Soon, he saw Helen walk over towards him smiling from ear to ear and that was when he realised he was actually meeting her. She gave him a big hug as she got to him, which he happily returned as they greeted each other and exchanged pleasantries.

She led him over to the chairs and coffee table and he settled in ready for the interview portion of his appearance. Austin normally hated interviews, but knowing it was Helen he knew it would be fairly relaxed and informal. "So, Austin Moon," Helen began excitedly, "this is your first official single!"

"Yes, that's right, it is." Austin replied politely, an enormous smile never leaving his lips.

"So what can we expect in terms of music coming from you in the future? We understand you're working towards an album, yes?"

"I am indeed, yeah. I've started to write a few songs for an album, but we currently don't have any sort of idea when it will be finished, you know, it's my first album so I want to just take my time on it a bit and make sure it's the best it can possibly be." Austin was replying as best he could, and even though it was his first TV interview you would've thought he'd been doing it for years, he came across as a true professional.

"So when you say you're taking your time, I'm guessing that means you're savouring a bit of free time while you have it. I know I would!" She enthused merrily.

"Yeah, I suppose. I mean I'm always thinking of songs, no matter what I'm doing something will pop into my head, but I do think I write better when I'm just enjoying my own thing, my creativity seems to flow a bit easier." Austin looked out of the corner of his eye to see Jimmy stood in the wings giving him a thumbs up, his answers had been perfect so far.

"Now, in terms of your writing, we know also that you don't write your songs alone, do you?"

"No, no I don't. Of course, I'm involved and have input in all my songs, but I've never been an excellent writer on my own and I never claim to be. I'm very lucky to have met an incredibly talented writer who has agreed to work with me, she's uh… she's really something special." He smiled a little shyly, a small twinkle developing in his eye as he talked about Ally.

"Tell us more about this person, you say she's a girl yes?"

"Yeah, yeah, she's just amazing." Ally was blushing a little at home. "I met her completely by chance and we just seemed to connect right from the start. She's really special to me."

"Aww this is so sweet," Helen smiled. "are you two a couple, then? I'm intrigued by this mystery girl!"

"Yeah, we started dating shortly after we wrote the first song together, a…"

"Sorry to interrupt, I'm guessing this first song is the one you performed today?" Austin nodded. "That's a very sweet song, no wonder you two bonded over it."

"It is, it's a beautiful song and I love it." Austin hesitated. "Her name is Ally. Ally Dawson. She's absolutely out of this world; she's unlike anyone I've ever met before." Ally could feel herself starting to tear up again. "I know she's watching this at home, so, uh, hi Ally." He laughed timidly, as did the rest of the audience gently. Austin stared straight into the camera. "I just wanted you to know how much you mean to me, so right here, right now live on national TV, I just wanted to say that Ally Dawson: I love you."

There was an amazing "Awwww" from the audience and Helen herself, as Austin blushed a little.

Ally couldn't believe it. She actually started crying of happiness, unable to comprehend that her boyfriend had just announced on live TV that he loved her. Looking to her left, she saw Trish squealing and bouncing up and down in her seat, and looking to her right she saw Lester just sat there, completely open-mouthed and in shock. Before she got a chance to say something to him, Ally found herself engulfed in a massive bear hug from Trish, which she relaxed into. "I'm so happy for you, Ally!" Trish squealed. "Finally, you have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear a guy say that to you!" She joked, and Ally laughed a little too, still not taking her eyes of her Dad who was still sat open-mouthed, gawking at the TV screen.

"Dad, Dad you okay?" Ally asked giggling, having never seen her Dad speechless before.

He slowly turned to face her, the open mouth turning into a huge grin as he pulled her in for a hug. "He's a good man, Ally. You're lucky to have him." He said quietly to her as they sat there hugging.

"Thanks Dad." Was all Ally could say before she turned back to face the TV. Not much had changed, Austin was still sat there blushing a little as the crowd gave a small round of applause.

"That's wonderful, just wonderful!" Helen said sweetly, beaming. "Isn't love great, everybody?" This comment received another small round of applause from the audience. "Well, it's been so nice having you on the show, Austin, thanks for coming on for us."

"No problem, thank you for having me." Austin replied politely.

"Once more everybody, the incredible Austin Moon!" Helen said loudly to the audience as they started to cheer. Austin smiled at them and gave a little wave as the channel went to a commercial break. Once the cameras were off Helen said goodbye to Austin properly. "Thanks again, Austin, you're very talented. And good luck with Ally, she seems like a wonderful girl."

"Thanks, I've loved it."

Ally was in shock for most of the day, trying to comprehend what Austin had said on the TV. He should be back any minute, he texted saying he'd come straight to her apartment. The door knocked and she ran to open it. As soon as she saw Austin stood there grinning she leapt into his arms, never wanting to let go. He stumbled into her apartment with her in his arms and kicked the door closed behind them. Trish and Lester had already left so it was just them in the apartment.

Austin put her down in the living room and instantly leant in and kissed her passionately. "Well?" He said quietly when he pulled away.

"Well what?" Ally asked, confused.

"Well what's your answer?" They gazed into each other's eyes and she could see nothing but love in his. She knew he meant what he'd said on TV.

"Answer to what?" Ally giggled.

"I told you I loved you. What's your response? Do you love me too?" He asked hopefully.

"Austin," Ally said sweetly. " _of course_ I love you!" He immediately wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into another kiss, this time deeper and more ferocious.

He moved down and started kissing and gently nibbling on Ally's neck and collar bone, causing her to moan softly in reply. She ran her fingers through his hair. He moved back up and kissed her again, she instantly opened her mouth to give him full access as their tongues danced. He slowly moved his hands under the hem of her shirt and up her stomach until he reached her bra.

In response, she moved her hands under his top and rubbed them along his abs, admiring the toned six-pack she felt. After a minute or so, she felt him move his hands down to her waist and start to unbutton her jeans.

Ally wanted to carry on but something told her it wasn't the right time, so she reluctantly pulled back. She could instantly see the disappointment in his eyes. "I'm sorry Austin, I love you, but I'm not ready for sex yet. I'm still a virgin!"

Austin may have been disappointed but he was very caring and reassuring. "Don't worry about it Ally, I'll never pressure you to do anything you don't want to. I want your first time to be absolutely perfect, and I'd rather wait a hundred years and have you be happy than do it now and have you regret it." She visibly relaxed and smiled at him.

"Thanks Austin, I know it must be frustrating for you."

"It's always a little disappointing, but like I said I'd happily wait a hundred years for you." He said, wrapping her in a big hug. "You won't make me wait _that_ long though, will you?" He asked jokingly.

Ally giggled. "No, I'm sure it'll be soon, I'll know when I'm ready."

"Okay Als, you take all the time you need. I love you."

"I love you too." And he pulled her into another kiss. Not a passionate, feisty, lust-filled one like those from a minute before, but a slow, gentle and romantic one. This kiss reassured Ally that everything was okay between them, and that everything would continue to be okay for a long time.

They fell asleep that night cuddled up in each other's arms on the sofa, watching a movie. Ally felt complete comfort and joy in his arms, knowing she'd finally found love in life.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading this chapter, looks like things are finally starting to heat up between the couple! As ever,** _ **all**_ **comments and suggestions are welcome! If you have a plot line or a way you want the story to go,** _ **tell me**_ **, I'm eager to know! Thanks for all the support and I will see you guys in the next chapter!**


	11. Chapter 11

Hey everyone, thanks for taking the time to read this story! Obviously, this is just how I've chosen to interpret the characters and they may not necessarily match up completely with those in the TV show.

This is a work in progress, so any feedback, comments and suggestions would be entirely welcome, as well as any suggestions for how you'd like to see the story progress.

For a while it's probably gonna be a chapter every two days, I'm just so busy, but I'll try and update whenever possible! Thank you for understanding :)

Thanks to everyone who's left a review so far! It means a lot to know that people are enjoying the story! I hope the rest of it doesn't disappoint :) Remember to favourite, follow and review!

Obviously, I do not own Austin & Ally in any way, shape or form.

So without further ado, here's the story! I hope you enjoy…

 **Chapter Eleven  
** **Memories**

Ally woke first the next morning, warmly wrapped in Austin's strong, comforting arms on the sofa in her apartment. She looked over at the clock on her wall. 7:30. She really didn't want to get up, she could have stayed like that forever. But it was a Monday, and that meant she had to work. She carefully moved Austin's arms off of her so she could get up without waking him, and walked away to go and get some breakfast.

She remembered how much Austin loved pancakes, so she decided she may as well make some. They were done soon, and Ally placed some on a plate for Austin and left them in the microwave until he got up. Eating hers quickly _(_ she'd forgotten how good they were), she then went to shower, brush her teeth and get dressed. Another time check, it was 8:15. She had about 15 minutes before she had to leave so she decided to wake Austin up. She strolled back out over to the couch and peered over the top of it. He looked so cute lying there asleep; she almost didn't want to wake him.

"Austin." She said gently, tapping his arm. No response. "Austin." She was a little more forceful this time, shaking him. Still nothing. "Austin!" Ally yelled this time, pushing him off the couch altogether.

She heard a muffled "Oof!" and a thud as Austin landed on the floor, and Ally couldn't help but burst out laughing at him. "Oh, you think that's funny do you?" Austin chuckled. "Give me your hand." He said, holding it up for her. Ally grabbed it, and Austin yanked her over the back of the couch so she was now on top of him. She squealed a little as it happened but they both started laughing when she landed. "Morning beautiful." Austin said quietly before kissing Ally. "Do I smell… pancakes?" Austin's eyes lit up.

"Yep, I made some for you earlier. They're in the microwave so you can heat them up." Ally said as she climbed off of him. "You'll have to be quick, though, I have to leave for work in about 10 minutes."

"Aww, you're the best!" Austin said excitedly as he stood up, running through to the kitchen like an excited child on Christmas morning, causing Ally to giggle a little. As big, strong and handsome as he was, Austin seemed to still have childish streaks in him that burst out from time to time.

Ally watched as Austin zoomed through his pile of pancakes – it seemed physically impossible for him to have eaten them that quickly but he seemed to have done it! "Whoa, Austin, ever stop to take a breath?" She giggled at him.

"Not when it comes to pancakes!" He replied with a small grin. "Thanks Als, you're the best." He gave her a small peck on the cheek before picking up his plate and putting it in the dishwasher. "So how long until you have to go to work?"

"I need to leave in about 5 minutes." Ally replied, checking the time on her phone. "What are your plans today?"

"I don't really have any. I don't need to write any more songs for a while, and Jimmy said he'll get in contact with me later this week with details. Until then, I'm a free man."

"Oh, well at least you can just relax for a while."

"Yeah but I'm bored without you!" Austin said like a small child, pouting. This was one of those childish moments I mentioned earlier.

"Aww, poor ickle wickle Austy!" Ally replied, matching his voice and also pouting, as she walked over to him and pinched his cheek a little. "I'll only be gone for 12 hours!"

"Ally that's half a day!" Austin said, still childishly. Wow, Ally had never considered it like that. Half a day? That made her seem like a work-aholic. She didn't think she worked too much though… did she? This made Ally think for a while and there was silence for a few seconds. "Ally? Aaallyyyyy?" Austin said, waving a hand in front of her face.

"Hmm?" Ally snapped out of it. "Oh, sorry. But it's not that long, I'm sure you'll find something to do while I'm gone." Austin stilled pouted. "Sorry, babe, but there's nothing I can do about it."

"Mkay. Well can I walk you to work?" He asked, a small smile appearing on his face.

"Sure, I'd like that." Ally replied, matching his smile. They got ready to go and headed out into the cold February morning.

Ally took Austin's hand in hers and wrapped her free arm around the one she was holding hands with, snuggling into his side for warmth. He smiled down at her as she did this, enjoying the feeling of her being close to him like this. "You know, we haven't actually even been out on a proper date yet." Ally remembered as they walked down the street. "I mean we went out for coffee that day but that doesn't really count since we weren't… you know… _together_ then."

"Oh yeah, I suppose you're right." Austin said, looking up slightly. "Okay then, Miss Dawson, would you like to go on a date with me?" He said, smirking at her and putting on his best posh voice.

"Yes, I would love to." Ally replied in the same tone of voice, smiling brightly at him.

"Great. And what would you like to do on this date of ours?"

"I don't really know, you're the one who asked me on the date." Ally giggled a little.

"Well, let's go through the options. There's the classic movie date…"

"No, I don't want to spend my date sat in silence, that kinda defeats the whole point of a date."

"… there's a meal at a fancy French restaurant…"

"Tempting, tempting, but I always feel really out of place in those posh places."

"… we could go out to a bar and dance…"

"No way! No, no, no, no, no! I can't dance!" Ally said instantly. "Besides, most of those places are sleazy as. Do you really want to spend the date watching people try to hit on me?" Ally said. "Oh, wait, that sounded really arrogant of me." She looked down, blushing.

"No, no, you're right. All the guys would try to hit on you, you _are_ beautiful." Ally blushed even more.

"Thanks, Austin." She said meekly.

"No problem. Now, where were we… ah yes! How about a sunset stroll along the beach, just talking and listening to the waves as the sky goes red as the Sun goes down…"

"Ooh, that sounds romantic. Now you're talking!" Ally said, beaming at him.

"Sunset beach stroll it is, then!" Austin smiled back, leaning down and giving her a quick peck. He hesitated, remembering something. "One problem, though…"

"What? What is it?" Ally asked, starting to panic that she didn't look good enough or she had something stuck in her teeth. She frantically took a small mirror out of her purse and starting looking into it to try and find out the problem.

"No, Ally, it's not that!" Austin reassured her, taking the mirror out of her hands and replacing it with his own hand, and turning her head to make her look at him with the other. "You're beautiful." She blushed again. "The problem is that you, miss work, work, work, don't _stop_ working until 8:30 at night, and in February the Sun has long gone down by that point." He said, smirking a little at her.

"Oh, yeah. Oops, forgot about that." Ally said, silently face-palming. "Sorry. Maybe we could do it on Sunday instead?"

"But Ally, I want to date you tonight!" Austin said, re-engaging child mode and jokingly pouting again, getting another giggle from Ally.

"Okay, Austin, okay, don't worry. We can still do something else tonight and do the walk on Sunday instead. Or, we could wait until next Tuesday, you know what day that is?"

"Next Tuesday? It's Valentine's Day, right?" Austin replied. Ally nodded. "But it's a Tuesday… won't you be working?"

"Nope, Dad said the shop's not opening that day, so we'll be able to spend the whole day together." She smiled up at him.

"Aww , Als, that's great, your Dad's the best." He leaned down and kissed her again. "But that still doesn't sort out our date."

"No, you're right…"

"Well, how about we return to my previous suggestions and combine the movie and food ideas by having a movie night at my apartment with a takeaway? I know it's not exactly a night out, like a _real_ date, but we can just relax, and talk without annoying anyone else."

"Yeah, okay. That sounds nice. What movie do you want to watch?"

"I'm pretty easy to please, whatever you want to watch babe."

"Hmm…" Ally thought for a few seconds. "Well, I won't be so cruel as to put you through a soppy romance or a chick flick…" Ally considered. She heard an almost silent _"Thank God"_ come from beside her, causing her to smile a little. "… but at the same time I'm not really a fan of horror movies… anything else is fine."

"Okay, I'll have a little look round in the mall while you're working."

Just then it started to rain. And not as in a few small drops of rain, as in _rain_ rain. Like as-if-you're-standing-under-Niagara-Falls rain! They quickly ran into the nearest shop door and found themselves in Starbucks. "Aww, Austin look, it's where we first met!" Ally said as Austin took his coat off and shook it. She thought back to that moment those few weeks ago…

 _Ally paid, waited for her drink to be made and collected it. She took a couple of steps backwards before turning to walk out the door, but when she turned –_ _ **WHAM**_ _– she walked straight into someone's chest. Her coffee and groceries went flying and she tumbled, landing in an undignified heap on the floor. "Oh my God, I am so sorry!" A gentle voice called out to her as she sat there, trying to come to terms with what had just happened. "Here, let me help you up." The voice continued, and a hand appeared in Ally's face offering her assistance getting up._

 _Looking up, Ally found herself staring at what she could only recognise as the most beautifully handsome face she had ever seen in her life. She was looking at a man, around her age, with perfect blond hair and incredibly deep brown eyes which she found herself lost in. She also noticed that his dress sense was impeccable: white high-tops, dark blue slim jeans, a navy and white striped t-shirt, and a nice jacket._

 _She remained sat there for a few seconds, mesmerised by the beauty of this stranger, her cheeks getting redder and redder by the second. Once she realised how stupid she looked, Ally quickly looked away from his deep eyes and gently said "Oh, I'm so sorry" sheepishly as she took his hand and stood up, brushing herself down in a desperate attempt to retain some level of dignity. "I didn't see you there."_

" _Oh no, it was my fault!" Replied the blond quickly. "Oh man, look what I've done!" He muttered, looking around the coffee shop floor at the scattered vegetables falling out of the grocery bags and the spilt coffee everywhere. "I am so, so sorry!" He repeated, expecting her to be seething._

" _No, it's fine, no harm done." Ally replies calmly, still blushing._

" _At least let me buy you another drink," He offers, already crouching down to try and pick up some of Ally's groceries and put them back in the bags._

" _No, no, it's fine, honestly!" Ally reassures him, joining him on the floor to gather the food._

" _No, really, I insist. It's the least I can do," He says, reaching out and touching her arm. At this Ally blushes even more, she can't believe that this amazingly handsome man is offering her a drink, let alone touching her. She makes the mistake of looking into his eyes, and immediately gets lost in them. After a few seconds of her just staring at him, he begins to worry he's making her uncomfortable and swiftly removes his hand. "Excuse me, miss? Are you okay?"_

" _Hmmm, what, no I'm fine!" Ally stutters, suddenly breaking out of her trance and feeling like an absolute idiot. "Are you sure you want to buy me another one? I can get one myself..." She began._

" _No, no, of course! It's the least I can do!" The man responds, smiling at her with his perfect white teeth. "What was it?"_

" _Oh, it was just a small black Americano. Thanks." She replies gently, smiling meekly back at him. She told him it was a small so he wouldn't have to buy her a medium, she felt kind of guilty even accepting a small from him. However, he could tell from the size of the cup rolling around on the floor that it was a medium, so he turned to the woman at the counter._

" _Hi, can I please get a medium black Americano and a large Cappuccino to go?" He asks confidently, digging around in his pocket for his wallet._

" _Of course," the woman on the counter replies. "What's the name?"_

" _Oh, the Cappuccino's for me, Austin, and the Americano's for…" He pauses, turning to Ally for her name._

" _Ally" She says softly, with a small smile on her face._

"Oh, yeah." Austin says, looking around as he stopped shaking the rain of his jacket. "I've never been so thankful for my clumsiness." He said, chuckling and leaning in to give Ally a quick kiss.

They had originally intended to just stand in the doorway until the rain stopped, but after 30 seconds it didn't look like it was going to stop anytime soon. Looking at his watch, Austin discovered that they still had 20 minutes to get to Sonic Boom, which was a 5 minute walk away, as they had already been walking fairly quickly to keep themselves warm. "We've got time to stop for a coffee. How about it?"

"Yeah, okay. I need it to warm me up!" Ally jokes. They walk up to the counter, order their drinks (Austin of course insists on paying for them) and go and sit at a table by a window with them. "So… this place brings back the memories, huh?" She said, smiling softly as she looked out the window.

"Yep. It certainly does." Said Austin in reply, also smiling as he looked into his coffee. "You know, I knew the moment I saw you that you were perfect for me." They looked into each other's eyes and smiled. "Even when you were on the floor, looking around all dazed and confused, all I could think about was how cute you were. I was kinda secretly glad I walked into you, otherwise we would have never met." Austin continued, looking almost a little worried as he considered never meeting Ally.

"Aww, well I'm glad we bumped into each other too. I can't believe how close we were to never talking to each other, if it hadn't happened I would have just walked out the shop and probably never seen you again!" Her expression started to match Austin's as she considered spending her life without him.

They sat like that for a few seconds, each of them dreading what their lives would have been like, before Austin decided to break the silence. "Yeah, I mean if it hadn't happened I wouldn't even have a career right now, I only have the amazing songs I do thanks to you."

"Yes, well I probably wouldn't be _alive_! You really did save me that night." The bruising on Ally's face had now fully healed and was no longer visible, but her wrist had to stay in the cast for another few weeks.

"Well, then, here's to our clumsiness!" Austin said, trying to re-brighten the mood after the mention of that night brought back a few memories to both of them. He raised his cup.

She giggled, picked up hers and tapped it against his before taking a sip. "To idiocy!" Ally said in response. Austin chuckled at her.

They sat enjoying their drinks for about 10 minutes, until the rain eventually stopped. They quickly finished their drinks and got up. They left the shop, walking back out onto the soaking wet pavement of the street.

They walked the rest of the way to Sonic Boom mostly in comfortable silence, with the occasional few comments and small talk. They soon arrived at Sonic Boom. Austin said goodbye to Ally outside and gave her a kiss. "I'll pick you up after work." He said.

"Great, see you at 9." She smiled before turning and walking into the shop to begin her working day.

Austin walked to the nearest film shop and bought a movie for them to watch that night on their "date" (if you could really call it that). When he got his wallet out to pay, though, the shop assistant said she recognised him from The Helen Show, thought he was amazing and told him he could have the film for free if he signed a copy of his single to be hung up on the wall behind the counter. Of course he accepted, in shock at actually being _recognised_. _'I guess I'll have to get used to this.'_ He thought to himself as he signed the single and handed it to the smiling assistant in exchange for the movie. He thanked her and walked out the shop. He spent the rest of the day at his apartment, not doing much and mostly thinking about Ally.

He walked back to Sonic Boom and waited outside for her. She walked out at exactly 9 o'clock and he instantly gave her a big hug and a kiss. "I missed you today." He said quietly as they hugged.

"I missed you too." She replied sweetly, before they walked off hand in hand into the night. They walked straight back to Austin's apartment.

"What takeaway do you want?" Austin asked. Ally hadn't thought about this yet.

"Oh, uhh… I don't mind really. Pizza?" And so that's what they ordered. They talked about their days whilst waiting for it to arrive, whilst Austin set up the movie ready for when it got there. About 20 minutes later there was a knock at the door, so Austin answered it, took the pizza and paid the delivery boy his money (plus a tip of course).

They snuggled down on the floor in front of the sofa and Austin started the movie. They had a really nice evening, enjoying the pizza and talking quietly as the movie played, just enjoying each other's company. Austin had never felt so at ease and comfortable with a person before, and he now couldn't imagine his life without Ally in it.

Towards the end of the film, Austin leant in for a kiss only to be met by Ally's hand. "Uh-uh-uh, Austin." Ally said mock-sternly, shaking her head. "I don't kiss on the first date."

"Wha-But Ally!" Austin said in his childish voice, putting on the pout again.

"No Austin, second date maybe but first date definitely not." Ally taunted him, smiling.

"Come on Ally, you're kidding me!" Austin said cheerily, smiling at her hopefully. Ally just looked him straight in the eyes and raised an eyebrow.

"Do I look like I'm joking?" She said, trying to look serious but still smiling.

"Allyyyyyyyy!" Austin moaned, causing Ally to giggle at how childish she seemed to be able to make him.

"No, Austin. I'm sorry but that's my policy."

"Oh, alright." Austin said sulkily. He turned to look her in the eyes again. "Like I said last night, I'll wait for you forever." As she stared back at him, she could tell he meant it and saw nothing but love and caring in his eyes. "I love you, Ally." He said, trying to trick her into kissing him. Ally saw straight through it.

"Nice try, bub." She said, slapping him gently in the chest. "But I love you too." Austin finally accepted that she wasn't going to kiss him so he settled for her snuggling into his chest for the rest of the movie.

When it was over, he walked her back over to her apartment and said goodbye at the door. "Still no goodnight kiss?" He asked her, putting on his puppy-dog eyes that he knew she loved.

"You got that right. Night, Austin." Ally hugged him briefly before walking into her apartment and shutting the door without saying another word.

Ally didn't hear from Austin the next morning and just got up and went to Sonic Boom as she always did. She was going to text him on her lunch break and arrange to meet up with him later, but she didn't get a chance because mid-morning Austin walked in and walked straight over to the counter. There was no-one else in the shop at that point. "Oh, hey Austin!" Ally said cheerily with a smile as he walked towards her.

He didn't say a word, and just pulled her up into a deep, long, passionate kiss as soon as he reached the counter. Ally instantly melted into it, the rest of the world fading away as she got lost in the kiss. He eventually broke it and smiled at her. "Good morning to you too!" She said jokingly as he returned her smile. "What was that about?"

" _That_ is to make up for not letting me kiss you last night." Austin replied, smirking and raising an eyebrow.

"Oh." Ally replied, mirroring his smirk as they remained in the embrace. "I take it you had a good time, then?"

"You bet I did." Austin replied before kissing her again, more gently and romantically this time.

"I'm glad. So did I." Ally replied, resting her head on his chest.

The next few days passed in a sort of blur, full of Ally working and Austin dropping her off, visiting her during the day and walking her home every night, although they didn't really have a lot of time for themselves. Austin realized this, and thought of a way to get back some of their precious 'Austin & Ally Time'…

 **Sorry chapters are only going up every other day at the moment, I'm just so busy at the moment! Please remember to favorite, follow and review and the next chapter will be up on Friday! :)**


	12. Chapter 12

Hey everyone, thanks for taking the time to read this story! Obviously, this is just how I've chosen to interpret the characters and they may not necessarily match up completely with those in the TV show.

New chapters of this story will be posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with possible extra chapters on weekends or during the week depending upon how much time I have, I will try and post as often as I can! :)

This is a work in progress, so any feedback, comments and suggestions would be entirely welcome, as well as any suggestions for how you'd like to see the story progress. Thanks to everyone who's left a review so far! It means a lot to know that people are enjoying the story! I hope the rest of it doesn't disappoint :) Remember to favourite, follow and review!

Obviously, I do not own Austin & Ally in any way, shape or form.

So without further ado, here's the story! I hope you enjoy…

 **Chapter Twelve  
** **Singing and Strolling**

Austin had a gig on Sunday at the mall on a small stage in the centre of it. Neither Austin nor Ally had expected too many people to turn up, as it hadn't been very widely advertised, and so they were shocked when nearly 1000 people turned up to see him perform. This was Austin's first live public performance in Miami (he had done smaller gigs at pubs and coffee shops back home in Orlando) and he was going to sing 3 songs: the ballad and the upbeat song that he had written with Ally plus one cover.

Austin was nervous, as you'd expect, but definitely nowhere _near_ as nervous as he had been about his performance on The Helen Show. As ever, Ally was right there by his side to support him and calm his nerves. He was most nervous about performing the dance song he'd written with Ally, because it was definitely very different to the ballad and he didn't want people to think he was just a one-hit wonder, so if they didn't like this song then they would assume he could only ever do ballads.

"Don't worry, Aus, if they truly love your voice then they will love everything you do." Ally reassured him, gently stroking his bicep as they stood backstage before his performance.

"I know Als, I know, but I just want to do you and the songs proud." He replied.

"Listen Moon, you've already made me _so_ proud of you, you know that I'll love whatever you do for as long as I live. _I love you_ , and that is far more important to me than whether or not _anybody_ likes our songs."

"I know and I love you too Ally, and I'll keep doing whatever I can to make sure that your beautiful music is heard everywhere. You're the best songwriter I've ever worked with." He leant down and kissed her on the cheek and she blushed at his compliment.

They chatted more, continuing to calm Austin's nerves, for about 20 minutes until the stage manager told Austin it was time for him to go on. "Well, here goes nothing. Love you." He said to Ally, kissing her for good luck before running up the steps onto the stage. "Good afternoon Miami!" He shouted out to a large cheer from the crowd. "Thank you all so much for coming out to watch me today. If you follow my music, then you'll be very familiar with my first song. It's what got me to where I am now, so I hope you enjoy it."

Austin picked up an acoustic guitar that was on the stage ready for him and began to play the song. As soon as he heard a few people in the crowd starting to sing along, all his nerves instantly melted away into nothingness and he felt at home, relishing every moment as he realised that this was definitely what he was meant to do with his life. At one point in the song he glanced around and saw Ally standing side stage, smiling like he'd never seen before with tears in her eyes. He started to feel himself choking up slightly so he shot her a quick smile before turning out to face the crowd again, which had grown considerably since he began to play.

When the song finished there was instantly an enormous cheer from the audience which just seemed to keep getting bigger. But, undoubtedly, the biggest cheer by far came from Ally side stage as she watched the love of her life take a bow. "Thank you!" He said into the microphone before putting the guitar back into its hold and moving it to the side of the stage and taking the microphone out of the stand and moving that to the side too.

"My next song is a little different but I hope you still enjoy it just as much. And yes, this was also written in partnership with my amazing girlfriend Ally Dawson. Another huge cheer erupted from the crowd at this, and the backing track started to play.

The crowd kept cheering and clapping all the way through the song, letting both Austin and Ally know that they were enjoying it, which was a huge relief to them both. Before they knew it this song was over too, leaving Austin with just the cover to go. He was covering All Of Me by John Legend. He had chosen to do this song because it was a ballad, so even if the audience didn't like the second song they could at least hopefully enjoy this as it was more like the first song **(A/N I don't think that last sentence made any sense at all but oh well)**. Plus the fact that he loved that song.

"Thank you all, I hope you enjoyed that new song which will be out soon! And now, for my final song…" There was a small disappointed sigh from the crowd at this point followed by a small amount of laughter. "… I will be doing a cover of All Of Me by the incredible John Legend." There was another huge cheer from the crowd, it was clear Austin had chosen the right song to cover.

The backing track started and he began:

 _What would I do without your smart mouth?  
Drawing me in, and you kicking me out  
You've got my head spinning, no kidding, I can't pin you down  
What's going on in that beautiful mind  
I'm on your magical mystery ride  
And I'm so dizzy, don't know what hit me, but I'll be alright_

 _My head's under water_  
 _But I'm breathing fine_  
 _You're crazy and I'm out of my mind_

 _'Cause all of me_  
 _Loves all of you_  
 _Love your curves and all your edges_  
 _All your perfect imperfections_  
 _Give your all to me_  
 _I'll give my all to you_  
 _You're my end and my beginning_  
 _Even when I lose I'm winning_  
 _'Cause I give you all of me_  
 _And you give me all of you, oh oh_

 _How many times do I have to tell you_  
 _Even when you're crying you're beautiful too_  
 _The world is beating you down, I'm around through every mood_  
 _You're my downfall, you're my muse_  
 _My worst distraction, my rhythm and blues_  
 _I can't stop singing, it's ringing, in my head for you_

 _My head's under water_  
 _But I'm breathing fine_  
 _You're crazy and I'm out of my mind_

 _'Cause all of me_  
 _Loves all of you_  
 _Love your curves and all your edges_  
 _All your perfect imperfections_  
 _Give your all to me_  
 _I'll give my all to you_  
 _You're my end and my beginning_  
 _Even when I lose I'm winning_  
 _'Cause I give you all of me_  
 _And you give me all of you, oh oh_

 _Give me all of you_  
 _Cards on the table, we're both showing hearts_  
 _Risking it all, though it's hard_

 _'Cause all of me_  
 _Loves all of you_  
 _Love your curves and all your edges_  
 _All your perfect imperfections_  
 _Give your all to me_  
 _I'll give my all to you_  
 _You're my end and my beginning_  
 _Even when I lose I'm winning_  
 _'Cause I give you all of me_  
 _And you give me all of you_

 _I give you all of me_  
 _And you give me all of you, oh oh_

The audience sang along the whole way through the song and gave the loudest cheer yet at the end of the song. The moment was so perfect, Austin actually felt tears prick the back of his eyes but he managed to hold them in, he didn't want to be seen crying on stage.

"Thank you Miami! You've all been absolutely amazing this afternoon, I hope you enjoyed my performance! Remember my single is on sale now and you can expect more to come in the near future. Have a good day everybody and I also hope you have a good Valentine's Day on Tuesday!" And with that he bounded off stage to the continued cheering of the fans as they slowly started to drift away, and he immediately swept Ally up into a spinning hug as she congratulated him.

"You were _amazing_ up there, Austin!" She said as he span her.

"Thanks Ally, you know I couldn't do it without you." He replied into her ear.

They gathered together all their things and left the side stage area, and were met by a line of fans waiting for an autograph from Austin. "Woah!" Austin exclaimed as he saw them.

"Yeah, wow!" Ally said, semi-sarcastically and in shock.

"This could take a while. Do you mind?" Austin asked her, expecting her to want to get out of there as quickly as possible.

"No, of course not! Give the fans what they want." She smiled back at him and he gave her a quick peck on the forehead before turning and walking to the fans. Ally stood back a bit and pulled out her phone, ready to wait for as long as it took Austin to sign all their papers and posters and singles, and occasionally their bodies too.

However, she was very surprised when some of the fans started calling out to her to get her autograph too. "What, really?" She asked, shocked.

"Yes, oh my God we absolutely _love_ your songs, you are the best writer ever! Well, half-writer technically since you write them with Austin." One fan called back, holding out a copy of Austin's single and a pen.

"Oh, well okay then!" Ally replied happily, strolling over and taking the pen and signing the CD.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!" The fan said quickly as Ally handed the items back. She pulled Ally into a bone-crushing hug before scampering away squealing as she looked at the autographs.

Austin and Ally were stood there for about half an hour signing autographs and getting pictures with the fans. Of course, most of the fans wanted only Austin's, as he was the singer and not many people recognised her, but those that did (about a quarter of them in total) asked for hers alongside Austin's. Although it was a little tedious and repetitive, the pair never complained or were rude, which is why the fans loved them so much. They were the most down-to-earth celebrities around.

They were also thankful that none of the fans seemed at all crazy, they were just really nice, friendly people who enjoyed their work. Once they had gotten their autograph and/or selfie they happily left and didn't bother them at all. Austin and Ally felt so thankful that they had such great fans and that they could go around their daily lives in relative normality with only the occasional fan appearing and asking for an autograph or picture.

When the line was gone and everyone had been seen, Austin and Ally walked back to their apartments to freshen up.

Austin had thought that they should do that sunset beach walk that had been suggested earlier in the week, and of course Ally immediately accepted. It was February, so sunset was fairly early. This meant that they didn't have much time to get ready and they ran round their apartments like crazy people, frantically eating, showering and deciding what to wear.

Although it would almost certainly be fairly cold out, it was still Miami and so Ally was brave and chose some jean shorts, a red tank top and a black leather jacket with sandals (no socks, obviously). Austin opted for some tan three-quarter length shorts and a red, blue and white plaid shirt, also with sandals (and also with no socks).

Austin picked Ally up from her apartment and they slowly strolled to the beach, hand in hand. Despite being February it was actually fairly warm, and Austin and Ally were glad that their gambles had paid off.

They got to the beach just before the sun started to set, and they both put on their sunglasses and started a gentle walk down the beach, hand in hand, talking happily with each other. They loved seeing other couples who'd had the same idea as them, as well as families on strolls together and having fun. _'Hopefully one day that will be me and Ally with our kids.'_ Austin thought to himself, although he didn't want to bring that up with Ally just yet, he was working one step at a time.

They even met a couple of fans who hadn't known about the earlier mini-concert and asked for both their autographs and a selfie with the sunset in the background, and of course Austin and Ally happily did so. They loved meeting fans - it made them feel like their work was worthwhile and appreciated.

Thinking about this made Austin remember the melody for a song which he had come up with a while ago. "Oh Ally, I almost completely forgot, I thought about a really awesome tune for a song the other day." They hadn't written a song for a while as they had enjoyed the small break and the free time that came with it.

"Oh really?" She asked looking up at him and he nodded in reply. "Great, well let's hear it!"

"Uh… well, like I said, it is just a melody, I don't have any lyrics to go with it yet." Austin said.

"That's okay, just hum it to me and we'll see what happens." She reassured him.

"Okay then…" Austin stuttered before he began gently humming the tune of the chorus. When she smiled and nodded her approval after the chorus he found more confidence and also hummed the two verses and a bridge. He was really happy with how it sounded. It was another slow song, and it seemed perfect for the moment as they blissfully walked along the beach.

"Nice Austin, really nice!" Ally said when he finished. "Do you know what? This is such a coincidence because a while ago I came up with some lyrics for a slow song but I couldn't think of any music to fit them to! Hang on, hum the chorus again and I'll see if I can fit my lyrics into it."

And so he did, and the lyrics were perfect for the melody Austin had created and they both knew it instantly. It was also exactly the same with the verses and bridge, and before they knew it they had the song completed.

"Wow, I think that's our best song yet!" Austin said when they sang it through completely, and Ally agreed with him. "And I can't think of a better situation to have written such a beautiful song when I'm walking with such a beautiful woman **(A/N I don't think that made much sense either… I'm doing well today. Nice one me)**." Ally blushed and stammered her thanks.

By this point the sun was starting to set more rapidly and the pair decided to turn around and start walking slowly back in the opposite direction. It was still warm whilst the sun was setting but they knew that as soon as it was down it would get colder and they didn't want to have to walk too far home in the February night, especially considering what they had chosen to wear.

As they walked along, humming the song they had just written, the day's mini-concert at the mall came up in conversation. "I was so proud of you today; I told you that you had nothing to worry about!" Ally said happily, smiling up at him.

"It was so much easier with you there. Everything is." Austin replied. "And thanks for waiting with me for those autographs, I know it can get a little boring."

"No, no problem at all, some of them even asked me for mine!" Ally giggled a little at the thought.

"I know, and you totally deserve it. I've said this a thousand times before and I'll say it a thousand times again, _none_ of this, _none_ of my success, my songs, my _entire career_ would I have if it weren't for you, Ally, and for that I will be forever grateful."

They stopped at this point and turned to face each other as the sun was setting to one side of them. It was like the perfect romantic moment you see on posters and pictures on people's Instagram pages.

"Austin, you don't have to thank me. I love you so much and that's all that matters to me, I'll gladly support you and your career no matter where it takes us, so long as we're together." Ally said up to him as they stood close together.

Austin leant down and kissed her romantically, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer as she wrapped hers around his neck and returned the kiss. When they pulled away they kept their foreheads together and smiled at each other, once again getting lost in each other's beautiful brown eyes.

"I love you too Ally, and I want to spend as much time as I possibly can with you." There was a few seconds of warm silence as the sun continued to set. "Ally, I have something to ask you." There was a brief glint of fear in Ally's eyes as she panicked about the idea of him proposing to her – she wasn't ready to get married! Austin noticed this and chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm not asking you to marry me – yet – I know you're not ready for that just yet. But I do want to take the next step."

A few more seconds of silence.

"And that next step is…?" Ally asked.

A few more seconds of silence.

"Ally, will you move in with me?"

 **A/N: Thanks for reading this chapter, will Ally accept his offer and move in with him? (I think the answer's fairly obvious so it's not much of a cliff-hanger but oh well)**

 **Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who's reviewed, but in particular to** _ **Rauslly-and-Percabeth-Rock**_ **who reviews all my chapters and special thanks to** _ **adorableness**_ **who has supported me and helped me through my entire fanfiction experience so far – thank you so much!**

 **The next chapter of this story should be posted on Monday, but there might be one over the weekend so keep checking back! See you in the next chapter! :)**


	13. Chapter 13

Hey everyone, thanks for taking the time to read this story! Obviously, this is just how I've chosen to interpret the characters and they may not necessarily match up completely with those in the TV show.

New chapters of this story will be posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with possible extra chapters on weekends or during the week depending upon how much time I have, I will try and post as often as I can! :)

This is a work in progress, so any feedback, comments and suggestions would be entirely welcome, as well as any suggestions for how you'd like to see the story progress. Thanks to everyone who's left a review so far! It means a lot to know that people are enjoying the story! I hope the rest of it doesn't disappoint :) Remember to favourite, follow and review!

Obviously, I do not own Austin & Ally in any way, shape or form.

So without further ado, here's the story! I hope you enjoy…

 **Chapter Thirteen  
** **Valentine's Day**

"Ally, will you move in with me?" Ally was stunned. She wasn't expecting this! Well, actually, she didn't know what she was expecting but it definitely wasn't him asking her to move in with him. She just stood there, open-mouthed, staring at him for a few seconds whilst she tried to collect her thoughts.

"… Yes, Austin. Of course I will!" She then immediately pulled him down into a deep loving kiss which he happily returned as he smiled against her lips.

"I love you Ally." He stammered when they took a breath.

"I love you too!" They kissed again briefly. "So are we moving to yours or mine?"

"I don't care, as long as I'm with you." He smiled softly at her and she giggled.

"Smooth one, Moon." He chuckled in response.

"I know, I know. But I seriously don't mind. However… mine has the music room with the good view."

"Oh God yeah I love that room. Plus, yours is where we had our first kiss…"

"And where we got together."

"Hmm… okay, I have an idea. Let's spend a few days in your apartment and then a few days in my apartment and see which we prefer."

"You have yourself a deal, Dawson." He held out his hand, smirking at her. She took it and shook it, smiling up at him before he pulled her hand towards him, drawing her up into a kiss. "So, mine first?" She nodded. "That means we're in mine for Valentine's Day." He said, realising it was on Tuesday and it was Sunday today.

"It does indeed." She kissed him on the cheek. "Now, let's get back, I need to grab some stuff from my apartment so I won't have to keep going back to it. Otherwise it won't really feel like we've moved in together." Austin nodded his approval and they set back off down the beach as the sun continued to set.

When they got back to Aqua Plaza, Ally ran into her apartment as Austin walked to his own to quickly clean it and make it more presentable.

Ally grabbed her two suitcases out from under bed and scurried into her bathroom to grab her shampoo, body wash, toothpaste, toothbrush and makeup. All that alone took up half a suitcase! She then ran through to the kitchen and grabbed some essentials, as well as everything that would go rotten soon. She then stuffed into that suitcase a couple of books and most of her movie collection. One suitcase done!

She ran back through to her bedroom and threw as many clothes as she could possibly fit into the second suitcase. She managed to get about three quarters of her wardrobe in, even though she knew this was stupid since she was only staying in his apartment for a few days. Nevertheless, she wanted to have as many clothing choices as possible so she could look her best at every moment for Austin.

The two suitcases packed, she grabbed her laptop bag and threw her phone charger in with it. She slung her lucky guitar over her shoulder and picked up the suitcases and laptop bag and left her apartment, locking the door behind her. She was so excited to start her life living with Austin and skipped down the hall to his apartment as fast as she could with the suitcases.

She knocked on the door and waited excitedly. He opened the door and she immediately jumped into his arms giggling happily and he span her around and around. "I see you're excited then." Austin joked, chuckling as he put her down and grabbed her suitcases for her.

"You think?" Ally ran through to the music room immediately and took her guitar off, putting it down right next to Austin's, before running back through to the living area, where he was carrying her bags and hugged him again. "I love you Austin. I can't wait to start living with you."

"I'm glad you feel the same way as me, Als." She let go of him and he took her suitcases through to the bedroom and put them down on his king-sized bed. "Welcome to _our_ bedroom for the next few days."

Ally giggled. "Austin, I'm pretty sure I've seen your bedroom before."

"Yes, you have, but then it was just _my_ bedroom. Now it's _ours_." He pulled her into a quick peck. "I'll let you get your clothes unpacked, I've cleared out some space in the wardrobe and a few drawers for you." He showed her where these were. "Did you bring anything else?"

"Yeah I've got some food and movies in this one." She said, pointing to the slightly smaller of the two suitcases.

"Right, I'll sort those out then." He smiled at her before picking it up and leaving the bedroom.

"Oh, Austin!" Ally called after him. "That one has all my bathroom stuff in it as well."

"Okay, I'll bring the suitcase back through so you can put it all in the en-suite when I've sorted out the rest of the stuff in here."

Twenty minutes later, Ally had unpacked about three-quarters of her clothes and Austin had just finished putting the food in the kitchen and the movies alongside his own. "Here you go, babe." He said, bringing the suitcase with her make-up stuff back into the bedroom.

"Thanks Austy. Do you think you could do me a favour and just put it all in the bathroom? I just need to finish unpacking my clothes."

"Jesus, Ally, you're only staying here for a few days not a few months… well, for now at least." Austin chuckled when he saw how many clothes Ally had brought with her.

"Shut up, I like to be prepared, okay?" She laughed back at him softly.

"Of course Als. I'll go and sort out this stuff." And with that he walked into the en-suite and started unpacking. "Wow Ally, how much make-up do you have?" He questioned as he pulled out endless amounts of make-up from the suitcase.

"I rarely use most of it, I just have it. Trish uses it when she comes to stay with me, so I just sort of have it I guess. Of course I still use it…"

"You look gorgeous, with or without make-up. You always do." He walked out and stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his head on her shoulder, gently kissing her neck.

"Thanks babe." Ally replied, turning her head so he was now kissing her lips. "I'm nearly done now, just a couple more dresses."

"Okay. You hungry? Thirsty?" Austin asked. Ally replied that a hot chocolate might be nice. "I'll go make us some, when you're done why don't you go and pick a movie that we can watch with our drinks? I'll bring them through." He kissed her cheek and walked out into the kitchen.

Ally quickly finished unpacking and went out to the TV where the movie collection was, picking a romcom that she hadn't seen in a while. She heard Austin let out a small groan as he walked in with the two mugs of hot chocolate and saw the movie menu on the screen, but he was instantly happier when Ally cuddled up with him, resting her head on his chest.

They happily watched the movie, and by the time it was finished it was still only 8:30. "What do you want to do now?" Austin looked down at Ally, who smiled back and shrugged her shoulders. "We could write our first song officially living together…" Austin suggested.

"Ooh yeah, okay, I actually have a great idea for one." They got up and walked through to the music room hand in hand, and Ally gasped as she saw the city all lit up through the window. Miami really was even prettier at night. "Wow… if that isn't a source of inspiration then I don't know what is." She said as she ran over to the window and gazed out for a few minutes.

As he had done in the bedroom, Austin walked up and wrapped his arms around her waist. She turned round to face him and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her for a kiss. "This moment is just perfect." She whispered to him as they pulled away, still in each other's embrace. Ally just wanted to stay like that forever. "Never let me go, Austin." She said as she rested her head on his chest.

"I won't. Ever. I promise." Austin replied, kissing the top of her head. He felt his t-shirt start to get a little wet and looked down to see Ally crying gently into it. "Ally, what's wrong? Are you okay babe?" He asked, worried.

Ally looked up into his eyes, still crying. "Everything right now is just so perfect. I just don't know what I'd do if anything changed, it scares me to think about going back to my old life. I don't think I'd be able to cope without you, Austin." She returned her head to his chest, still crying gently.

Austin hugged her tighter when he heard this. "Don't worry, Als, I'm not going anywhere, and if I do, I'll take you with me." He buried his face in her hair. "I promise you, right here and now, I will do everything in my power to keep you safe and with me for the rest of my life."

Ally stopped crying, leant up and gave him a long kiss. "You're my first boyfriend Austin. And I'm glad. I wouldn't want to have had these experiences with anyone else. You're perfect."

He pulled her back up to him and kissed her again. "How about that song then?" He smiled as their foreheads remained leaning against each other's. She just smiled back, nodded and pecked him on the lips again, before moving away to pick up her guitar.

"What're you thinking then, Moon?" She asked as she started to strum a simple melody she had in her head.

"I'm liking that tune already. Play that again?" She played the melody again as he picked up another guitar and played along.

Neither of them could ever believe how easy it was for them to write songs together, they seemed to just form themselves and they were always beautiful! Before they knew it, they already had the melody for a chorus, three verses and a bridge. Now they needed lyrics.

It wasn't a particularly slow song, yet neither was it a full-on dance song. It was just a medium tempo song and they were both in love with it.

Lyrics were always more tricky than the melody, but not in this case for some reason. The lyrics just flowed out and fit into the tune absolutely perfectly. This was incredible – they had _never_ found it so easy to write a song, and they had thought this about the last song they had written. They glanced over at the clock. 9:45.

"Wow, just over an hour to write an entire song. And a pretty damn good one at that. That's _got_ to be some sort of record!" Austin said happily as he wrapped Ally into a hug and kiss.

At this point they realised they had written two songs in one day, because of the one they had come up with on the beach earlier. They quickly played this song too so they didn't forget it.

They played through every single song they had written together multiple times over, getting lost in the music and company, and didn't realise how long they'd been playing for when they looked over at the clock and it was suddenly 10:30!

"Woah, the time just flew by!" Ally gasped when she saw the time. "I need to get to sleep, I have work in the morning!"

"Yeah we'd better both get to bed, it's getting late. You can use the bathroom first if you want." They smile and leave the music room. Ally ran through to the en-suite to get ready for bed, whilst Austin turned off all the lights in the apartment and pulled all the curtains closed. He walked back into the bedroom just as she left the bathroom in a vest top and pyjama bottoms. Austin grabbed some sweatpants from the drawer, gave Ally a quick kiss and went into the bathroom.

After a few minutes he emerged back out into the bedroom in just his sweatpants. Ally gasped a little, but covered it with her hand. She still wasn't used to seeing Austin like this and was taken aback by his amazing body and handsome face. He heard her gasp though, and chuckled a little. "Like what you see?" He asked jokingly, throwing his dirty clothes into the washing basket. Ally blushed and nodded a little, getting another small chuckle as he climbed into bed beside her.

She snuggled into him and he wrapped his arms around her. They felt so perfect together and Austin instantly knew he'd made the right decision asking her to move in. "Night Ally, I love you."

"I love you too Austin." And with that they both quickly fell asleep.

The Monday passed normally. They woke up and got ready for the day. Austin gave Ally the spare key as hers to keep. Ally went to work. Austin did a bit of cleaning around the house and played a few songs, gazing out of the music room window. Ally got home, greeted with a big hug and a kiss. They ordered a takeaway and ate it in front of the TV before they cuddled up together on the sofa and put on a movie. When the movie was done they went to bed.

To most people this would seem like a very boring, dull day, but Austin and Ally loved it all the same purely because they had each other.

It was Tuesday. February 14th. Valentine's Day. Ally woke up alone in bed. She had allowed herself a lie-in, because Lester had decided not to open Sonic Boom that day, meaning she could spend the whole of Valentine's Day with Austin. She put her arm down behind her, expecting to feel Austin's body, but instead she felt her hand land on a piece of paper. Turning round, she found herself looking at a bunch of red roses with the aforementioned piece of paper placed on the pillow next to them. She picked up the note.

 _Good morning Ally_

 _Happy Valentine's Day!_

 _I love you loads. I'm making you breakfast_

 _but you don't need to get up if you don't_

 _want to. I'll bring it through to you if_

 _you're not up when it's ready. Austin x_

' _Aww, he's so sweet.'_ Ally thought to herself, deciding she would get up. She dragged herself out of bed and put on her robe, before wandering out into the kitchen, where she saw Austin stood by the stove. She walked up and covered his eyes with her hands. "Guess who?" She said in a goofy voice.

"Is it the best girlfriend in the entire world?" He asked, smiling. He removed her hands from his eyes, span around, wrapped his arms around her waist, dipped her and kissed her. "Morning beautiful." He smiled.

"Morning handsome. Thank you for the roses." She said sweetly. "They're really pretty."

"Almost as pretty as you. But then, it's impossible to be prettier than you so you have an unfair advantage." He smirked at her. She blushed again. He pulled her back into another kiss. "You can go and get ready if you want. Breakfast will be ready in about 20 minutes."

She smiled back. "Great, what are we doing today?"

"Anything you want to babe." She gave him another quick peck on the lips before turning and walking back into the bedroom and through to the bathroom. She showered and washed her hair. She decided to wear a floral dress that came down to about her mid-thigh with a denim jacket. She dried and straightened her hair and put on a light layer of natural-looking make up. She sprayed on a bit of her perfume and did another check in the mirror. She smiled when she saw herself – for the first time in a long time she really felt pretty.

She strolled back out towards the kitchen and tapped Austin on the shoulder. "Hey babes, are yo…" He stopped when he saw how beautiful she looked and his jaw dropped. She was always pretty, but today she really looked incredible.

Ally giggled. "Like what you see?" She asked, imitating Austin's voice from when he asked the same question to her the night before.

"Wow, Ally, I… you look amazing. Like really amazing." She started to blush and looked down at the floor. He put a hand under her chin, lifting it up so she was looking straight into his eyes. "Seriously Ally, you look incredible. If I don't tell you that at least 100 times today, there's something wrong with me."

Ally giggled. "Thanks Austin." She leaned up and gave him a long, deep romantic kiss. "How long until breakfast is ready?"

"Well, turns out you're just in time." He grinned at her. "It's all ready."

They ate breakfast together happily. When they were done, Austin went to go and get ready whilst Ally sat on her phone on the sofa. She decided to call Trish as they hadn't really had a chance to speak much recently.

T: **Hey girl, happy Valentine's Day!**

A: _Happy Valentine's Day Trish, how's it going?_

T: **I'm good, I heard your Dad decided not to open Sonic Boom.**

A: _Yep, he's given us the day off._

T: **So you're spending it with Austin, right?**

A: _You got that right. In fact, I have some kinda big news._

T: **Ooh what's going on? Has he proposed?!** Trish asked excitedly, causing Ally to giggle.

A: _No, Trish, he hasn't proposed. But he has asked me to move in with him._

T: **Aww this is so romantic! When did he ask?**

A: _He asked on Sunday evening whilst we were walking along the beach._

T: **So where are you two living?**

A: _Well we were going to spend a few days at Austin's and then a few days at mine and see which we preferred, but honestly I feel so at home here already and I've only lived here for a day and a half. I don't even think we need to bother trying it at mine._

T: **That's good that you feel so at home, does he know that yet?**

A: _No, we haven't really spoken about it yet._

T: **So where is the hot hunk?**

A: _Trish!_

T: **Sorry, it just slipped out! But seriously, what are you two up to today?**

A: _Well I woke up to roses on the bed and him cooking breakfast. We've eaten now and he's just getting showered and stuff. We don't really have a plan, I think we're just gonna do what we feel like. Are you spending the day with Elliot?_

Elliot was Trish's boyfriend, and they had been dating for a few years. However, he didn't live in Miami but he was visiting for a few days around Valentine's.

T: **Yeah, we've just done the same as you really. Late morning, breakfast, no real plans for the day.**

A: _Well you two have fun, I have to go I've just heard Austin get out of the shower. I'll speak to you later Trish._

T: **Okay Als, you have a good day too. Bye!**

Ally hung up and looked through her messages for a few minutes, before Austin walked out of the bedroom and gave her a huge smile.

Austin was looking _good_ today. He was wearing a white V-neck t-shirt with black skinny jeans, a shiny black belt and a red leather jacket. His hair was in its usual perfectly scruffy but still neat looking style. He shot her a million-dollar smile and walked over, sitting on the sofa next to her and she instantly cuddled up to him. "So what do you want to do today?" He asked her as he stroked her hair gently.

"I don't really mind, but I don't really want to go out to dinner or anything. I'd rather just relax a bit."

"Sure thing. Man, it feels like I haven't had a day like that in months."

"I know me too. That's just why I'm really in the mood for it." She smiled up at him and he leant down and gave her a quick peck on the lips.

"Okay, so what do you want to do first? And do you want your presents now or later?" He asked.

"Present _s_? Plural?" Ally asked, shocked.

"Yep. Presents. When do you want them?"

"Uhh… I… now I guess!" Ally stuttered, giggling. "I'll go and get yours too." They got up and both walked into the bedroom. Ally picked up a small box out of the suitcase where she'd had her clothes and Austin picked up two small boxes out of the bedside table on his side. They walked back out and sat on the sofa again, facing each other this time.

"Open mine first." Austin said gently, handing her the two boxes. Ally opened the slightly larger of the two first and pulled out a bottle of her favourite perfume. She asked how he knew it was her favourite and Austin explains how the bottle of that one in the bathroom was much closer to being empty than the others so she must use it more and therefore prefer it. Ally was actually fairly shocked at her boyfriend's detective work and she giggled to herself.

She opened the second box to reveal a beautiful, silver bracelet with four charms on it. She felt tears prick the back of her eyes as she lifted it out of the box and studied it closer. "It's beautiful." She almost whispered. "What are these four charms?" They were all different small gemstones and they were all gorgeous and complimented each other well.

"It's one gemstone for each song we've written together." He said gently. "Hopefully soon that'll be a full bracelet." He chuckled.

She giggled too. "This is absolutely gorgeous and I love it. Thank you." She smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

He helped put it on her wrist. "Yeah, it's pretty. But it's still nothing on you." He smiled at her again and she found herself once again getting lost in those deep brown eyes of his. He leant in and gave her another romantic kiss as the bracelet clipped on. They pulled away and smiled.

"Your turn." Ally said happily, handing Austin the box that had been sat in her lap.

He opened it slowly and lifted out a black rope-style necklace with a golden guitar pick on it. It shone in the light coming in through the window, and looked even better than Ally had remembered it when she bought it the day before. "It's beautiful." Austin smiled and whispered.

"Read it." Ally said very softly, barely above a whisper, pointing to the engravings on either side of the golden pick. One side read _'Austin and Ally'_ and the other said _'Love Forever'_. Ally smiled gently as he read it out loud.

"I love it Als, I swear I will _never_ take it off. Well, apart from when I'm showering or swimming." He chuckled, before slipping it on over his head. It sat perfectly around his neck. "Thank you." He then grabbed her and pulled her on top of him as he lay back, kissing her deeply and wrapping his arms like a ring of steel around her back.

"Thank you too." Ally replied as they pulled away and sat back up. "Now what?" She asked, giggling.

"It's a beautiful day. Why don't we go for a walk around? We could go to the mall."

"Yeah, I'd like that." Ally replied smiling.

Ally put on some white heels and Austin put on some white canvas shoes and they left his apartment.

They walked down the high street hand in hand, enjoying the sunlight and seeing many other couples who'd clearly had the same idea as them. "So, Als, when do you want to try living in your apartment?" Austin asked as they walked.

"Um Austin… I don't think I want to. I feel so comfortable at your apartment already, I can see myself just living there. What do you think?"

"What do I think? I think that's great Ally! I'm so glad you feel at home at mine, if you're sure that it's where you want to live then let's make it official!"

"I can move the rest of my stuff in today! Well, the furniture can stay but all my other clothes and food and stuff can be moved!"

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Austin chuckled and they turned around and started running back to Aqua Plaza. They both walked into Ally's apartment and put everything they could into boxes and moved them across to Austin's… wait, _their_ , apartment.

Everything was moved across by the early afternoon and they happily spent most of the afternoon unpacking everything and putting it all away. They agreed that they would put Ally's old apartment up for sale and sign her onto Austin's lease later in the week as they didn't really want to deal with all the paperwork on Valentine's Day.

By 5pm all Ally's stuff had been moved into Austin's and she had locked up her apartment. They shared a long kiss in the doorway of their apartment as they finished unpacking the last box. "What now?" Austin smiled down at Ally as they remained in an embrace.

"You know what I really feel like doing right now?" She asked, returning the smile.

"No, babe, what?"

"A nice, long, slow walk on the beach."

"Sure, I'll need to get changed first." Austin smiled. "Back in a sec." He walked off quickly into the bedroom and emerged a few minutes later, still in the white t-shirt but the jeans had been replaced with black three-quarter length denim shorts. They both grabbed a pair of sunglasses and headed out to the beach, just like they had on Sunday.

They spent a few hours strolling happily along the beach together, hand in hand, her head resting on his upper arm. They loved times like these, simply enjoying each other's company and walking along happily. Yes, there were still fans that came running up wanting Austin's autograph and picture, but they were always very polite and happy to sign and wait. They saw no point in being rude and after all it was because of the fans that they had what they had.

They stayed on the beach until it was dark and too cold for them, before they walked back to _their_ , not Austin's, _their_ apartment and saw it was 8:00.

They ordered a pizza delivery and put on a movie, eating and watching happily together, cuddled up on the sofa. When the movie was over Ally stood up and pulled Austin up with her.

"I have one more present for you." She said softly, smiling up at him.

"Oh yeah, what's that?" He smiled back.

"Close your eyes and hold out your hands." She said. He did as she asked, and felt her put something small in his hands. "Okay, you can open your eyes now."

He looked down at his hands and saw a small, foil packet. "A condom?" He asked gently, amused. She nodded back at him, looking into his eyes. "So, does this mean…?"

She nodded again. "That's right."

Austin was shocked. "Ally, are you absolutely sure you want this? I know how big of a deal this is for you."

"Austin, I have been waiting my whole life for the perfect man and the perfect time to come along. And now I finally feel like I've found it. So in answer to your question: yes. I am _certain_ that I want this."

Austin was still a little in shock and started blushing a little. "Uh… right… okay… uh… I…" Austin stammered, and Ally giggled.

"Guess I'd better start then." She laughs, and leans up to kiss him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He instantly returned and deepened the kiss, wrapping her tightly in his arms and kissing her like they'd never kissed before.

They stumbled into the bedroom, and… well, you know the rest.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading this chapter, their relationship is starting to get real serious!**

 **As ever,** _ **all**_ **suggestions and reviews are welcome! Let me know your opinions and ideas, I love hearing your input.**

 **The next chapter of this story will be posted on Wednesday, I hope you guys all enjoy the rest of the story! Thanks for all the support and reviews so far, keep them coming! :)**


	14. Chapter 14

Hey everyone, thanks for taking the time to read this story! Obviously, this is just how I've chosen to interpret the characters and they may not necessarily match up completely with those in the TV show.

New chapters of this story will hopefully be posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with possible extra chapters on weekends or during the week depending upon how much time I have, I will try and post as often as I can! :)

This is a work in progress, so any feedback, comments and suggestions would be entirely welcome, as well as any suggestions for how you'd like to see the story progress. Thanks to everyone who's left a review so far! It means a lot to know that people are enjoying the story! I hope the rest of it doesn't disappoint :) Remember to favourite, follow and review!

Obviously, I do not own Austin & Ally in any way, shape or form.

So without further ado, here's the story! I hope you enjoy…

 **Chapter Fourteen  
** **Jobs & Duets**

Despite the previous night's… let's call them "Valentine's celebrations"… Ally still had to be up the next morning to go to work at Sonic Boom. She found herself losing the drive to go to work more and more each day, even though she loved her job and spending time with her Dad. However, she managed to drag herself out of bed and into the shower before getting dressed. She chose pale blue skinny jeans with a white long-sleeved t-shirt and a knit cardigan. When she was dressed she got her usual breakfast before returning to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

As she walked through the bedroom to go to the en-suite, she saw Austin still sleeping soundly. He looked so cute when he was asleep, and Ally smiled to herself as she stood there for a few seconds before deciding it felt creepy to watch him sleeping. She walked into the bathroom, brushed her teeth and pulled her hair into a high ponytail. A quick spray of her perfume and she was ready for the day.

She walked back out into the living room past a still sleeping Austin and sat on the sofa for a few minutes checking her phone. She wrote Austin a quick note for when he woke up telling him that she was at work and placed it on her pillow before going back out, putting on her white heels, grabbing her purse and leaving the apartment, closing the door behind her so she didn't wake Austin.

She picked up a small black coffee from Starbucks on her way just to wake her up a bit more, and arrived at Sonic Boom right on time. "Morning Dad." She called out as she walked into the store.

"Morning Als." Lester called back from underneath the counter as he was getting everything out and putting it on display. "How was your Valentine's Day?" He asked, beaming at her as he stood up and put some boxes on the counter. "And could you please help me put these drumsticks on the shelves?"

Ally smiled and picked up a couple of the boxes before walking over to the display shelves. "It was absolutely great thanks Dad," Ally replied as they walked and stacked the boxes. "I spent the whole day with Austin."

"That's great honey. How are things going with him, anyway? Any news?" Lester asked casually as they continued sorting out the boxes of drumsticks.

"Well, sort of…" Ally said. "He asked me to move in with him." She continued happily, smiling at Lester.

"Ally that's great, I'm so happy for you!" Lester said enthusiastically as he walked over and picked her up and span her around. "You did say yes, right?"

"Yeah of course I did, Dad." Ally laughed as Lester put her back down.

"Aww that's really great, Austin's a nice guy. Keep hold of him, Als." He joked, nudging her slightly with his elbow.

"I'll try." Ally replied giggling before they got back to work. She would ask Lester if he'd heard from Penny, her Mum, but it was a bit of a touchy subject because, although they were technically still married, they weren't on the best of terms and she had moved to Africa to write a book. Ally and Lester had both been sad, obviously, but they helped each other through it and got the occasional letter from her every few months.

Meanwhile, back at the apartment Austin had just woken up, and smiled remembering the previous night's events. He rolled over and saw Ally's note. Checking the time on his phone he saw it was 9:10 so he decided he may as well get up. He staggered into the bathroom and went through his normal morning routine before getting dressed into dark grey slim jeans, a black and white striped top. He made himself some chocolate chip pancakes and ate them for his breakfast and went and brushed his teeth.

He sat on his bed and looked at his phone and saw a message from Jimmy, asking him to go in at about lunchtime that day. Austin replied that he'd be there and went and put on the TV for a few hours until he needed to leave. He put on his black and white Jordans and a black zip-up hoodie and left the apartment, locking it behind him.

He got to the studio at about 1 o'clock and Jimmy greeted him with a big smile. "Hey Austin, how's it going? Did you have a good Valentine's day?"

"Ah it was great thanks Jimmy, Ally's moved in with me so we can spend a lot more time together now." Austin smiled at him.

"That's great, you two are such a cute couple."

"Thanks, man."

"And you're also a wonderful musical partnership. Which is what I wanted to talk to you about today."

"Oh yes?" Austin asked, smirking and excited.

"Yes." Jimmy smiled back. "Austin, people have been _loving_ your music so far, and so they should, but all we've actually released so far is your first single. So, we need to start putting music out there for people to buy. Which is why in exactly one month's time you will be releasing your first studio album!"

"No way!" Austin exclaimed as he jumped up, excitedly. "Wait, a month?"

"Yes, one month. I know it's quite short notice, but the fans really want your music, Austin."

"And how many songs will I need for this album?"

"Well most albums commonly have around 12 tracks, but since this is your debut album between 8 and 10 should be enough."

"No, I think I can get 12. When me and Ally are in the zone it's amazing how quickly we can get a song out."

"Well that's even better! Speaking of Ally, can she sing at all?" Austin looked at him confused. "It's just that the fans seem to adore her too, and if she can then it would really boost the album if you two were to sing a duet."

"Err… I don't know. Yeah, she can sing, we sing all the time when we're writing. But she has terrible stage fright, she's never sang in front of anyone except me."

"I understand, not everyone's meant to be a performer. But talk to her about it. I can guarantee you better sales and better reviews if there's a duet on that album, it will just add that little bit of variety."

"Okay, I'll talk to her about it, but I have a very strong feeling she'll say no."

"That's no problem, just let me know what she says. We can't record anything today, I have a very full schedule, but our first recording session is booked in for this Friday to record your first song for it. Does that sound okay to you?"

"Yeah, that suits fine. Don't worry about today anyway, Ally has a doctor's appointment anyway that she wants me to go with her to."

"Okay, well like I said it's a busy day today so you can go now. I'll be in touch."

"Thanks Jimmy, see you on Friday." And with that he smiled and shook Jimmy's hand before heading back to the apartment.

Ally had an appointment at 3 o'clock at the hospital to finally get her wrist cast off, and she couldn't wait! It hadn't really affected her lifestyle but it wasn't the most comfortable thing.

"Dad, I remember I have a doctor's appointment at three to get my cast off, so I need to leave in about half an hour. But I'll be right back afterwards!" Ally said to her Dad when she checked the time on her phone.

"No, Ally, don't worry about it. You can have the rest of the day off, it's not very busy today anyway." Lester replied smiling. "How are you getting to the hospital?"

"Austin's meeting me here and we're walking there." Ally replied. Lester nodded his approval and they continued working away. At 2:15 Austin walked through the doors and over to Ally.

"Hey baby." He said as he kissed her. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah sure just let me get my stuff." Ally smiled up at him before walking behind the counter to grab her purse. Lester walked out of the back room and he and Austin nodded and smiled at each other. "Bye Dad, I'll call you tonight."

"Okay honey," Lester called back. "I'll talk to you later." Austin gave a small wave before turning and following Ally out the door, grabbing her hand and intertwining their fingers.

"So, Als, I haven't seen you since… last night." Austin said casually, smiling at her.

"Yeah, I had to be up early and I didn't want to wake you up, you looked so peaceful asleep." Ally smiled back, resting her head on his upper arm as they walked. "Thank you for everything yesterday, it was the best Valentine's day ever."

"It was my pleasure babe, umm… thank you for letting me… well, you know." He said, blushing and looking at the floor. Ally giggled at this, realising that she must look like that when he compliments her.

"That's okay!" She continued to giggle. "It was, uhh… good, I guess. I'm glad you were my first, it made it a thousand times better."

"Good? Just good? That's the best you could come up with?" Austin smirked at her, pulling her in closer.

"It was great, amazing, incredible, everything I dreamed it would be. Better?" Ally continued to giggle and smile at him.

"Much better. And you're welcome, by the way."

There was a slightly awkward silence for a couple of seconds but it soon passed, and they made small talk all the way to the hospital. They arrived 15 minutes before the appointment, Ally signed in and they went and sat in the waiting room. "Thanks for coming with me, Austin." Ally smiled at him as they sat next to each other, holding hands.

"You're welcome Als, anything for you." He smiled back before leaning in and giving her a quick kiss. They talked quietly while they waited and soon Ally was called in and they walked through to the doctor's room.

"Hi, Ally." Greeted the doctor cheerfully as she and Austin walked in and sat down. "How are you today?"

"I'm good, thank you doctor." Ally replied politely, but slightly nervous as she saw the chainsaw sat on the workbench. He followed her gaze to it and chuckled slightly.

"Don't worry, Ally, it's just a rubber blade. This is a completely straightforward procedure, it will be over in a few minutes." Ally smiled. "Now, if you'd like to sit on the bench and we'll get started. She did as he asked and he walked over and picked up the saw. "Now, Ally, when I'm cutting the cast it will be vibrating quite severely, but it won't be painful. It will just feel a little ticklish."

Ally nodded and he turned on the chainsaw and moved it towards her wrist. As it made contact, Ally realised the doctor wasn't kidding, her whole arm was vibrating like crazy, but it didn't hurt at all. She started to laugh softly as it tickled a bit, and looked over at Austin who broke out into a smile when he saw her laughing.

Within three minutes it was done and Ally sighed as the doctor turned off the saw and her arm stopped vibrating. Then he pulled the cast off and she sighed again as the air rushed to her skin which had been covered for so long. It was a good feeling and Ally smiled as it happened. "There we are, your wrist is as good as new." The doctor beamed at Ally as she looked at her arm. The skin where the cast had been was a little paler than the rest of her arm but it wasn't really noticeable.

"Thank you doctor, it feels great to have my arm free again." Ally giggled as she went and sat back next to Austin.

"No problem at all, just sign this form and you're free to go." Ally smiled and quickly signed the form before she and Austin stood up, thanked the doctor again, shook his hand and left the hospital.

"So, what now?" Austin asked as they walked back out into the sun.

"I don't mind," Ally replied. "you heard my Dad say I don't need to go back to work.

"Want to go get some ice cream, then?" Austin asked. She nodded and they walked off hand in hand down the street. Austin gently stroked Ally's arm where the cast had been as they walked. "Man, it feels weird not having your cast here anymore." Austin said as they walked.

"I know, it feels good to have it off, though. It feels like I can completely move on from what happened, like the final thing that made me think of it is gone." Ally sighed I relief as she thought this, glad that she could now completely move on from that horrible night.

"That's good, that night will now forever be in the past and we'll never have to think about it again." They stopped walking as Austin said this and he pulled her into a short, loving kiss before they carried on walking.

They got to the ice cream parlour and got three scoops of ice cream each: Cookie Dough for Austin and Fruity Mint Swirl for Ally. They sat down by the window, in the sun, and talked whilst they slowly ate and enjoyed their ice cream. About 30 minutes later they left and decided to walk back to their apartment.

When they got in, Austin suggested they watch a movie together and just relax. Ally agreed and went to choose a movie whilst Austin took his hoodie and Ally's cardigan and went and put them in the bedroom. When he came back out they cuddled up together on the couch and watched the movie. When it was over, Ally sat up and Austin turned to face her. "I have something to ask you, Als."

"What is it?" Ally asked as she turned off the TV before turning to face him and taking his hands.

"Well, today I went in to see Jimmy at the studio. Basically, all the music's doing really well and everyone loves it, which is great, but I haven't actually released anything except my first single. So, he told me that in one month my first album will be released."

"That's brilliant!" Ally said excitedly, giving him a big hug. "Oh my God you're actually going to release an album, I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks babe, but that's not the end." Austin said as they pulled away. "Obviously, I wanted to ask if you'd consider being the official co-writer for the album?"

"Oh Austin, honey, of course I will!" Ally smiled at him.

"Great. I need around 12 songs, though, so we'll have to work hard."

"12?" Ally hesitated for a second. "That's not a problem. I have an idea."

"Oh?" Austin smirked at her.

"Maybe… I should quit my job at Sonic Boom?"

Austin was shocked. "What? Babe, no, you don't have to give up your job to help me write."

"Austin, hear me out. I've stopped enjoying my job recently anyway, I didn't even realise until you came into my life that there's more to life than working." Austin smiled and tilted his head in agreement. "Yes, I won't be getting paid from it anymore, but from what you get in I'm sure we'll be fine. Plus, I guess as your co-writer I'll get a small part from the money you make from the album so it'll all even out. I'll be at home more, so we'll have more time to work on songs together, so the songs will be better. Think about it Austin, it all makes sense."

Austin considered for a moment. "Ally, I agree with everything you've said, but are you sure this is the right choice? What if it all goes wrong?"

Ally giggled. "Austin, my Dad owns the shop; he'd give me the job back."

"Okay, but will he be okay to run the place without you? You're the only employee, right?"

Ally face drops a little. "Oh, yeah." She pauses. "Well, I'm sure it'll be fine. Most of the time it's not too busy anyway so he could probably manage on his own. I can go in and help out if and when he needs it and I'm available. And he can hire some part-time help the rest of the time, there's loads of people looking for small work. Everything will be fine."

Again they sat in silence for a few moments. "Okay, babe. If you're sure, it does sound like a good idea." They both smiled and he pulled her into a big hug and a quick kiss.

"I'm gonna go call my Dad and let him know." Ally said as she got up and walked into the bedroom. At this point Austin realised he had forgotten to mention the part about the duet. _'Oh well'_ he thought, _'I'll mention it when she's done_.'

A few minutes later Ally emerged from the bedroom smiling and walked back over to the couch, sitting on Austin's lap. "It all worked out, he agreed and he's really happy for us." She smiled and kissed him, more passionately this time.

"There's one more thing I want to talk to you about." Austin said as she pulled away.

"Sure, baby, anything. What's up?" She replied.

"So like I said Jimmy wants 12 songs for the album. However, he also suggested a way to make it even better and even more popular." He paused.

"Aaand…?" Ally prompted, waiting for him to continue. "That way is?"

"Well…" Austin paused again briefly. "He _suggested_ that one of the songs is a duet. With you." Austin felt Ally tense up in his arms as he said this.

"A…a…a…a duet?" Ally stammered. "Wi-with-with me?" She visibly turned a little paler. "Austin, I can't you know I have awful stage fright!" Austin could see the panic in her eyes and smiled gently at her.

"Ally, calm down, don't worry. It's not essential that you have to do it." He saw her relax a little. "I'm not ever going to force you to do anything that you're not comfortable with." He hugged her to him and held her tight. "It was only a suggestion, Jimmy thought that since my fans seem to love you too that it would make that song and therefore the album more popular. But don't worry about it, like I said it's not the end of the world, okay? I still love you."

She smiled as she pulled away. "Thanks Austy, I love you too. I want to, I just don't think I can."

Austin was a little disappointed but he expected it. "It's okay, baby, I understand." She leant in and kissed him. "Tell you what, why don't we try writing a duet and see what we think. If you really love the song you might feel comfortable performing it."

"… we'll see." Ally smiled and kissed him again, feeling annoyed at herself for being such a coward.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading this chapter! I know not a lot really happens, this is more of a filler chapter really, but I hope it wasn't boring or anything.**

 **As ever,** _ **all**_ **suggestions and reviews are welcome! Let me know your opinions and ideas, I love hearing your input.**

 **Just a heads-up, I probably won't be able to post a chapter on Friday, I have a lot of work to do at the moment! Who knows, though, I may be able to squeeze in the time to write, even if it's just a short fluff chapter. I'll try and post this weekend to make up for it though :)**


	15. Hiatus

_**Update (Again)…**_

Hi again, I know I've done a few of these updates in a row and it probably seems like I just can't decide what to do with this story at the moment, which is kind of true. Sorry!

Having thought about it and had some time away from it, I have decided that Love in Life is **not over**. It is not finished and this is not the end forever.

However, the story **is on hiatus** and will not be edited or added to until further notice. My guess is that this will be until around late summer, fall time, but this is not for certain.

In the meantime, I am currently working on another story that I hope to have finished by mid-summer, but again this is not a promise, and I will not be posting any chapters of it until I have finished the entire story so that I will be able to hold a regular update schedule for it and you won't be left waiting for months at a time wondering when the next chapter will be up.

The new story will be based around them at high school age. They are just starting their junior year at the start of the story. Austin is seen by everyone as a bad boy, thanks to the rumours and stories about him and his appearance. Everyone, that is, except his true friends Dez, Alex and Elliot who know his true personality. He has tried repeatedly to show people his true self, but nobody ever listens and he is forever seen as a bad boy, but he is also the most popular guy in school. Ally is a shy, introverted girl who only has one real friend, Trish. She has heard all the rumours about Austin and is therefore almost forced to share the same view of him as everyone else, but unlike others she sometimes doubts whether they're actually true and if it's possible that Austin is a nicer guy than he is given credit for. Will she discover the real him and help him prove himself to everyone else too? Or will she be like everyone else and just go along with the belief that he is no good?

That's a pretty basic summary, I'm a couple of chapters into writing it and I'm happy so far. However, as of now I have no name for the story, so leave your suggestions in a review or a private message, along with your views on the summary and any other ideas or opinions you want to get across!

I look forward to this next chapter in my profile, and hope that you will all support me in my decision to give Love in Life a break and also in writing this new story.

Catch you later!

Sam :)


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